The Girl from Anaheim
by Nosedivefan01
Summary: What was life like for Puckworld before the invasion? What was their life like before the lethal takeover and how did they all know each other? How did Canard get a little sister named Anna and how does she affect everyone's life around her? Hopefully, this is the final revision on this! Hope everyone enjoys! Important: Rating will change to M with later chapters!
1. For unto us a child is born

Snow fell in blankets. Outside the hospital window, you couldn't see a thing and Marissa found herself extra glad she was in the warm hospital bed. She glanced over at the hospital crib and felt a shudder; A month early. When she had first felt the contractions, she remembered what the doctor had said her due date was and shrugged it off, figuring they were just Braxton hicks contractions. Shortly after they started, however, her water broke.

5 hours later, on the 8th of November, her baby girl was shoving her way into the world.

Marissa looked over at the chair her son sat quietly in. He was kicking his legs back and forth as he stared at the crib with impatience.

"Jason?" the toddler looked up at his mom. She beckoned him over while a nurse came in, checking on the premature infant. She adjusted the breathing tubes and got some movement from the baby as she tried to wrap her tiny fingers around the nurse's finger.

"She's pretty strong for being a month early." the nurse said, almost suspiciously. Marissa smiled as she hugged Jason. She remembered her pregnancy with Jason. He had been a whole week late, and Marissa was astonished by how different her two pregnancies had been. Jason found himself pulling away from his mother slowly, making his way over to his baby sister.

The little girl's eyes were closed, and her skin was red.

"Why's her skin like that? Why's it red?" asked the 4-year-old.

"It's because your sister is stubborn and came before she was ready," Marissa explained.

"So, you ready to try breastfeeding again?" the nurse asked encouragingly.

* * *

A duck, about 5'7, stood staring at a computer screen. She had peach/tan feathers and long blond hair, which was presently tied up into a ponytail. She had piercing blue eyes that trailed across the screen she stared intently at.

"Anything yet, Nora?" Another duck stood at another screen just a few feet away, tapping at the keys every so often.

"No, not yet," she reported, her eyes hardening, trying to see something. All she saw was the grid, but nothing to show they had breached inter-dimension travel.

"We'll get there." The dark yellow drake replied, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. He turned his brown eyes back to his own screen.

"Nora! Nora, Layson! I've got something!" the blonde drake stood excitedly as the other two ran over. Layson was almost purely black. His blue eyes complimented his color nicely.

"What is it, Rudy?" Layson asked, leaning forward to look at the screen.

"It's a planet. Definitely not in Limbo. Looks to be..." he paused, glancing at his readings. "Warmer than our planet. And instead of ice, it looks like 66% of it is covered completely in water. This is astonishing! It looks as if it ca-" he was cut off as the computer began smoking and blew a few circuits from behind. They all coughed and looked behind the machine, "it can harbor life." Rudy finished his sentence.

"It has life on it?" Layson asked.

"Oh no, I don't think so anyway. I didn't get that far down the screen." he said, tapping his finger on the now blank screen, "but I highly doubt it."

"This is a huge breakthrough!" Nora said excitedly behind the two drakes.

"Since we've found a planet that can sustain life, I say we use it to test our gateways," said Layson.

The scientist pointed behind him to the circular arch. They had already successfully tested the portal, being able to get them from Point A to Point B on their own planet. Now, the next step was getting from one dimension to the next.

* * *

_2 months later_

Marissa was pleasantly surprised by her new baby's growth. She looked her age; 2 months old, and you never would have guessed she was a preemie, to begin with. She shocked all the doctors and Marissa couldn't help but feel proud of her baby girl for impressing everyone.

Jason sat on the floor, playing with his toy trucks. She watched the toddler and let out a sigh as her baby girl lay sleeping on her chest. Jason was definitely going to look just like his father, and it was going to kill her inside.

The father of her children, Edward, had been murdered about 6 months ago.

Marissa didn't know how or why. Ed had left her a message, telling her that if he didn't come home that night from work, she was to get on the next train to Anaheim. He said he loved her, that he would join her in Anaheim if all went well. If not, she was to assume he was dead.

She sat up all night, and at dawn, she caught the 6 AM train to Anaheim, dragging her toddler with her, her pregnant belly barely showing at that time.

She was confused and scared. When she arrived in Anaheim, she had no idea what Ed had wanted her to do next. A man had been standing in the station with a sign that read her name on it. She went with him and he drove her to a house. She tried to ask him questions, about Edward or anything else. The only thing the man knew was that he'd been paid to pick her up and to bring her home. Inside there was another note from Ed,

"My love,

I'm sorry for all of this. I bought this house for us years ago, knowing I planned on raising our family here. I hate to think it, but if you're reading this, I'm probably dead. I hope if you're reading this, I'll be joining you shortly. I have to believe I'll make it to Anaheim. To you. You must be so confused, but the less you know, the better. I wasn't always the honest man you thought me to be. I didn't work in a cubicle. That's all I can really say. Just know I love you, always. When I make it to Anaheim, I WILL explain all of this.

You have to know I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I love you always, Mari. Always.

Love, Eddie"

"Mommy?" Marissa was pulled from her thoughts as Jason walked up to her. "Why are you crying?"

"I just miss your daddy, baby." She tried, wiping the tears away.

"I miss him too, mommy. I wish he could have come with us." Jason admitted. Marissa smiled, opening up her other arm to the toddler. She sat there, rocking in her chair while the baby fell asleep on one arm, and her toddler fell asleep on the other.

* * *

"I think that's it." Rudy informed his colleagues, snapping some cords together. He glanced at his computer screen, which was showing a 3D image of the habitable planet. He had the screen back up that had showed the readings from before. In a chair next to the computer sat a curious seven-year-old.

"Ready to see history in the making?" he asked his excited daughter. She nodded vigorously, her wild hair bouncing back and forth.

"What's she doing here again?" Layson muttered, tapping something into the keypad by the gateway.

"Bring your kid to work day?" Rudy drew out.

"So why didn't Nora bring her kid?" Layson interfered, turning and slightly smiling at the woman.

"My boys are still too little," she said simply as the gateway started up.

"I think this is going to work." Rudy said, switching the subject to the gateway in front of them. The blonde little girl sat on the chair obediently, as her father had told her to stay on the chair unless he told her otherwise.

"So... who wants to go first?" Layson asked, kind of taking a step back and looking at Rudy and Nora expectantly.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Nora asked, and everyone was quiet as they listened. Inside the portal, it almost sounded as if a baby was crying.

"Is that... a baby crying?" Rudy asked, voicing their thoughts.

"I thought you said there was no life on this planet," Nora said, shaking her head and jumping through the portal.

"Well, um... I guess Nora gets to go... Without the rope..." Layson muttered, holding the lifeline up as if to demonstrate how dangerous of a choice Nora had just made.

"She'll be alright, I'm sure..." Rudy said, trailing off. No sooner had he spoken; the two ducks heard a clank from the gateway.

"What was that?" Layson asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer. Something came flying off the side of the gateway and Rudy and Layson shot each other worried glances.

"Nora! Get back here!" Rudy called into the gateway. "the gateway's unstable!"

Nora came out on the other side of the gateway in what looked like a house. It was dark, with a dimly lit lamp knocked over on the floor. Furniture was overturned. It looked like a robbery had happened recently. Her heart began to race as she realized the robbers could still be here. She crept quietly through the house before coming upon a nursery. A crib was knocked over onto its side and a woman was lying just beside it.

Nora rushed over, rolling the woman over. She gasped, realizing this woman had no beak. The woman was breathing, but just barely. Blood was all over her chest, and Nora had no idea where the wound even was or how this woman could possibly still be alive. The woman grabbed Nora's shoulder, taking a ragged breath. She seemed unaware that they weren't even the same species.

"Please. You have to take care of my baby." She gasped out before her hand fell from Nora's shoulder. Nora laid the woman back down as she walked around the side of the crib to where the crying was coming from. She scooped the pink blankets up and almost instantly the crying softened. She pulled back the blankets. The baby didn't have a beak either, but she was beautiful and stole Nora's heart almost instantly. Nora glanced around.

"She's beautiful," Nora commented, but when she turned back, she realized the woman was dead. She shook her head in sorrow. Nora looked down and saw a diaper bag sitting on the ground. She shouldered it, looking back down at the baby in her arms.

The baby had completely stopped crying and cooed at the loving duck. She grabbed onto Nora's feathers, ever so gently, and it was as if the baby was hugging her. Nora's heart melted as she walked back towards the portal, never even noticing the stealthy four-year-old that watched from the shadows.

"Nora! The gateway's closing!" Nora heard the faint voice of Layson through the gateway. His voice and took off running, jumping through the portal.

"Get down!" Rudy commanded. He and his colleagues hit the floor. Tanya listened to her father from where she sat and hit the floor as well. The gateway exploded and pieces went flying everywhere.

"Well, I guess that's it for our practice test for now." Rudy muttered, sitting up and looking back. "But at least we know we can do it."

"The only place to go from here is up." Layson agreed, grinning slightly at their accomplishment. They had successfully completed inter-dimension travel.

"What was it like, Nora?" Layson asked, looking over at the female. She was sitting up, her back slightly turned and was looking at something in her arms.

"Nora?" Rudy asked. Nora turned towards her colleagues, a slight smile on her face. They saw what she held in her arms. It was a baby, but it was missing feathers and a beak.

"Um, Nora. Wow, it's uh..." Layson trailed off.

"It's..." Rudy trailed off too, unable to find his words either. Rudy's daughter, having gotten up from the ground came over in front of the two drakes.

"Yeah, it's freaky looking, okay, that's what it is!" she said.

"Tanya!" Rudy scolded.

"Well it is!" The 7-year-old defended herself. "I mean what the heck is it supposed to be anyways?" she asked Nora.

"Well, she's a baby," Nora said, offering her to Tanya. Tanya held her awkwardly, and the baby tugged on some of Tanya's loose bangs.

"Mind her head." Nora warned, knowing this baby she'd found was a youngling and didn't have full neck support yet. Tanya readjusted her right hand, so it was more under the baby's head. She looked at the baby and the baby smiled, laughing at Tanya.

"You know, she's actually not too bad once you get used to her." Tanya said, smiling. "So whatcha gonna call it?" she asked Nora.

"Well, I-"

"What's going on here?" A gruff voice was heard behind everyone, and they all turned to see the Colonel walking into the room. He must have heard the explosion and come to check it out. Some lieutenants stood obediently in the doorway.

"Nora found a baby..." Tanya muttered, giving the baby back to Nora and quickly moving away, not wanting to get in trouble for holding the baby that was another alien race.

"Nora? What's going on?" he asked gently, his tone giving away that he knew Nora personally.

"When I jumped through the portal, I heard a baby crying. The nursery was completely flipped upside down, so I brought her back with me." Nora explained.

"You kidnapped a baby?" he asked incredulously.

"Tommy, you know me better than that."

He looked down, sighing, before looking back up at her.

"Where were its parents."

"There was only her mother. Something happened before I got there. Looked like maybe a burglary gone wrong. with her dying breath, her mother asked I take care of her baby." Tommy sighed again.

"This is a delicate situation you've put me in, Nora." he murmured.

"I know, but I couldn't just leave her there. She might have died had someone else not come along in time. I couldn't let her die." Nora insisted. Tommy smiled.

"No, I guess you couldn't." He straightened up, "I'm making a call to the president. No one outside this room is to know about the baby til then."


	2. Welcome to the Family

President Alabose stepped into the room, not an hour after the dimensional gateway had malfunctioned and exploded. He asked for the baby and in a matter of minutes, she had him smiling and playing with her.

"What an extraordinary creature." he marveled at the child.

"Mister President, the council will meet now." said a secretary girl that had come in with him.

"Ah yes, thank you," he said, still holding the baby and moving to the chair that had been set up for him facing the monitor, which was divided into six separate screens. One of the screens started to light up.

"Albus, you better have a good reason for this... I was just about to-" the female voice cut itself off as the white-feathered duck saw what the president held. "Oh... oh I see." she murmured.

"See? What do you see?" The bottom right screen was still white, and the duck clearly had audio working on his end but not video yet.

"Pipe down, Alasander. We will discuss the matter once the others join us." came the authoritative voice from the female.

A grey feathered duck with brown eyes appeared in the bottom right screen. He now saw what was addressed before but did as was told and stayed quiet until the rest of the screens were filled.

"I assume you all know why I called you." President Alabose announced once the screens were filled, and once he knew they had had time to see the baby.

"What is it?" asked one duck who had peach feathers and blue eyes.

"How did you come by it?" asked another duck with black feathers.

"Please let me explain what I know. Our scientists were working on a gateway. The kind that was said to have been used by the saurians hundreds of years ago to retreat from our planet."

"Rubbish." came the voice of a creature that wasn't a duck. A raptrin. He gave off a completely different demeanor than the rest of them. The ducks were genuinely curious about it, while he looked like he would have killed it the moment he set his eyes on it.

"I know not all of you believe the stories of Drake Ducaine, which is fine." Alabose responded to the raptrin quickly, "my point being... the gateway my scientists designed worked and one of them was able to pass through to the other side."

He paused, waiting for the ducks and raptrin to absorb what he was saying.

"Nora Flashblade passed through to the other side into a house not unlike our houses on our planet. When she entered the house, she saw over turned furniture. She explored further and found a creature nearly dead on the floor. With its dying breath, the creature asked Nora to take care of its baby. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the creature's baby." he said, holding up the baby to show them. "Nora's motherly instincts kicked in. We can't blame her for that. So, with the gateway malfunctioning and her colleagues beckoning her back through, she did what she thought best and brought the baby with her." he explained.

Murmurs broke across the monitor but not a single one was coherent.

"Please, please. Try to understand. We didn't mean to kidnap an alien baby." Alabose tried.

"But an alien baby we now have." the white female from before spoke up. It was clear of all the council members; she was the one who was really in charge. "and now as a council, we must decide what is to be done with her."

"Luna?" Alabose asked.

"What do you believe our choices to be?" Alasander asked from his screen.

"Well, one choice is to kill it and pretend this never happened." the raptrin muttered from his screen.

"You're talking about taking a life! Of an innocent child who has barely began to live no less!" came the response from the black duck.

"Okay, okay. Kill it and pretend it never happened or?" Luna pushed from her screen.

"With all due respect, Luna. I would personally vote we keep her and raise her as a duck." Alabose said from his screen. The council was silent for a moment.

"Raise this thing, whatever it is? As a duck? And what happens when it starts asking questions about why it doesn't have feathers?" asked Alasander.

"We'll give her feathers." Alabose shrugged, "or at least we can try," he looked to be in thought as he rubbed his chin, "Nora." he turned his attention from the screen to his left. Nora had been sitting in the corner with Rudy and Layson. Tanya had been sitting on Rudy's lap. All of them had been quiet during this time.

"Yes, Mr. President?" Nora asked, walking over and appearing on screen to the rest of the counsel.

"Is it possible, do you think, to genetically alter this alien to look like a duck?" he asked her.

"Well, we could try. We'd have to run a few tests. See if she has the same systems as us. I mean, clearly this thing doesn't have a beak or feathers." she explained briefly.

Luna nodded from her screen, having heard.

"Very well. Nora Flashblade and her team of scientists will work together to find a way to alter the child." Luna explained. The council members nodded their approval.

"This meeting is adjourned," Luna said and soon the screens blacked out one by one until Luna's was the last one. She was about to turn away when Nora spoke up.

"Wait, Counselor Starlight." Nora addressed. Luna turned back, giving Nora her attention.

"Listen, I might need a sample of DNA from a duck to be able to alter her. I have a friend who recently lost a child. I know she can keep a secret and I know she'd most likely be willing to give DNA to make this baby officially hers." Nora explained.

"You're sure she can be trusted?" Luna asked. Nora nodded.

"Yes. ma'am."

"Very well. Her and her husband may know of the child. But that's as far as I extend this knowledge. If anyone else finds out, it could be the downfall of our civilization."

"Understood. If we aren't successful in altering the child?" Nora asked suddenly.

"Then the council will meet again. But I can't promise the others wouldn't vote to have the child put down." Luna drew out. Nora gasped.

"But Counselor-"

"Nora, please. Just do your best. I don't like the idea of taking another's life any more than you do. Even if it is an alien, a life is a life. I'll expect a call once the child's outer appearance has been altered." Luna said, showing she had full confidence in Nora's abilities.

"Yes, Counselor Starlight," Nora said as the screen went black. She turned back to Alabose who gave her a sad look.

"I'm sorry, Nora. I did my best."

"Don't apologize, Mr. President. I've just been issued a challenge, and I never back down from a challenge. In a few weeks, I'll have this baby so altered, she'll look like she was born a duck." Nora promised, taking the baby from Alabose. "I promise."

* * *

_2 months later_

Nora and the other two scientists stood around a machine. It looked like a cat scan machine, but it was so much more.

"Alright, ducks. This will be the first and last time we'll ever be able to test this machine. So, let's hope it works." Nora began, taking the four-month-old and placing her in the machine.

"You ready, Chloe?" Nora turned to her best friend. Chloe breathed out.

"You know this is crazy, right? I'm already attached to her. If she doesn't make it-"

"She will," Nora assured, turning back to the machine she was putting the baby in.

"Good luck little Anna," she said to the baby, holding out her finger to her. The baby grabbed Nora's finger, cooing at her. Nora sighed out, rubbing her head against the baby's.

"I can't believe you named it. That's how you get attached to it!" Layson muttered from his spot.

"That was already her name," she argued.

"Besides, I like that name," Chloe argued for her friend.

"Just because a keychain on a diaper bag says Anna does not mean it's that thing's name," Layson argued.

Nora just shrugged before starting up the machine.

"Here we go, you guys ready."

"As I'll ever be," Rudy muttered. Nora pushed the cycle button and light emitted from the machine, glowing golden in color.

The golden light lasted for seconds before disappearing, and Nora found herself almost running to open the machine. Chloe followed Nora over. The baby was quiet.

Nora picked up the still baby, holding her breath. Rudy and Layson came over, seeing the once featherless, beakless baby now had a pale orange beak and fluffy yellow feathers.

"Unbelievable. It worked." Layson remarked. Nora didn't say anything. She was still waiting for a sign of life. When none came, she looked solemnly at her friend. She passed the unmoving baby to Chloe.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I got your hopes up." she apologized. Chloe took the baby in her arms, rocking her gently. Suddenly, little eyes opened to look up at Chloe. The baby cooed and Chloe rejoiced.

"Oh, little Anna!" Nora breathed out, hugging around her best friend and the baby.

"This is incredible. If I hadn't seen you pull her out of that machine, I'd think she was Duckborn." Rudy exclaimed, "You did it, Nora!" he praised. She just smiled, motioning for Chloe to follow her over to the examination table.

"Now let's check some vitals and see how she's holding up being a duck." Nora said, passing a stethoscope to Chloe, "You're a nurse, right?"

* * *

"Extraordinary." Luna praised from the screen. The other members of the council seemed to be just the same amount of awe as the head duck.

A week had passed since the experiment and once it was determined there were no side effects, Nora contacted the president and little baby Anna was brought before the council.

"She looks as if she were born right here on Puckworld," Alasander added his praise.

"Chloe, you and your husband are prepared to take on this task?" Luna asked.

"We are," Chloe promised, holding the baby close.

"And your husband is aware this is to be kept secret." Luna probed.

"Of course, Counselor. And Canard's young enough I don't think he'll even bat an eye. He knew I was pregnant 4 months ago. It was difficult to tell him the baby didn't make it, so we've kind of been avoiding the topic, and I don't think he'll ask too many questions right now. As he gets older, we'll just explain the baby was in the NICU for 4 months." Chloe promised. It'd be hard to lie to her child, but if she was able to convince herself the lie was true, then it would make it ten times easier.

"Very well. The baby is now a Thunderbeak. A birth certificate and social will be made and sent your way Chloe."

"Thank you, Counselor."

Luna nodded in return before saying, "Meeting adjourned."

With that, the screens all faded to black except for Luna's. She turned back for just a moment; a warning look in her eyes.

"Be sure you keep this secret. It'll be easiest to just convince yourself this is the baby you gave birth to." Chloe nodded in understanding.

"I fear the worse if she ever found out she was from another planet." with that being said, Luna's screen faded to black.

* * *

Chloe walked carefully along the newly cleared sidewalk. Her husband must have shoveled it and she silently thanked him. On her right arm hung her purse and the diaper bag. In her left arm, she carried a bundled-up baby.

She walked in and directly in front of her was the staircase. If she would have gone left, she would have entered the kitchen. But instead, she went right, shutting the door and heading into the living room.

"Hey honey!" she heard Pochard's excitement and heard a plate drop back into the sink. He must have been doing the dishes.

She knew he'd make his way into the living room and just sat herself down into her rocking chair, holding the baby. She pulled back the blanket, surprised to see the baby was awake.

She looked forward at the little boy who laid on the ground, watching toons. He hadn't really looked up since she walked in. She was sure he didn't even know she was holding his new baby sister.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Pochard entered from the kitchen.

"Oh sweetie, she's gorgeous," Pochard said, his eyes lighting up at the new baby.

"Isn't she, though? I'm already in love." Chloe admitted.

"So am I," Pochard admitted, brushing the baby's head.

"Mom!" both adults were genuinely surprised by Canard, who jumped up and ran to his mom, hugging her on the side she wasn't holding the baby on.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Well, silly, it's a baby." she smiled, holding Anna out for him to see.

"She's so pretty!" Canard commented.

"This is your baby sister," Chloe explained.

"What's her name?" Canard asked, genuinely interested.

"Her name is Anna." Chloe said to both Canard and her husband.

* * *

_a few weeks later_

Chloe and Pochard made their way up the walk to the Flashblade home. Canard was holding Chloe's hand while Pochard carried Anna.

They walked right in, knowing Nora and Torrent were expecting them.

"Hi!" Nora greeted, walking out of her kitchen. She walked right up to Pochard, taking the baby from him.

"Hello, Anna!" she welcomed, taking the baby into the dining room.

"Did... did she just take my baby?" Pochard asked, giving a playful confused look back to Chloe.

"Get used to it. She loves that little girl." Chloe said, patting his shoulder and walking past. Canard ran in, hopping on Wildwing.

"Wildwing, Wildwing! I've got a baby sister!" Canard exclaimed.

"Come on, boys." Chloe ushered, getting the boys to go sit in their designated spots in the dining room. Nosedive was in a highchair and Nora was still holding Anna while pulling a smaller highchair out of hiding.

Chloe cocked an eyebrow at Nora and Nora shrugged.

"We got two highchairs for Dive's baby shower and I'm too lazy to return things," Nora explained. Chloe let out a laugh at her friend.

"Well, that explains it." Chloe agreed as they all sat down to dinner.


	3. Growing up is rough

_12 years later, 1988_

"Mom!"

Chloe heard a distressed call from her daughter and immediately took off running up the stairs.

"Anna! Anna sweetie, what is it!" she called, bursting into the bathroom. Anna stood there; a towel wrapped around her torso while patches of pink skin showed around her body. Her mane was missing some patches and she turned to her mom, tears brimming her eyes. yellow fluffy baby feathers lay here and there on the floor.

"Mom! I'm going bald! I can't go to the party like this!" the preteen exclaimed, touching the rest of her dirty blond mane gently, feeling it fall out in her hands.

Chloe sighed out, seeing no real immediate danger.

"Where's the fire?" Pochard asked, knocking on the door as he entered the bathroom.

"Dad, I'm going bald!"

"Oh, sweetie..." Chloe shook her head, "it's fine, it's just-"

"Am I dying?" Anna asked, jumping to conclusions. "Do I have cancer?" she asked, staring at her mom.

"Honey, it's natural." Chloe insisted.

"Natural?" Anna asked. Chloe nodded. "Then why haven't I ever seen it happen to you?" Anna demanded suddenly.

"I'm not a pubescent teenager." Chloe informed, "at about your age, this starts happening. Remember Nosedive just started molting as well." she reminded.

"Well yeah, but I thought that only happened to guys," Anna muttered, turning back and touching a bald spot on her shoulder gently.

"Yo sis, you ready?" she heard her brother walking their way. "we're gonna be..." she heard him trail off as he came into view. "late." he murmured.

"Party in the bathroom," Pochard muttered, scooting out, realizing this wasn't anything he needed to help with. Canard scooted past his dad. As they passed each other, Pochard placed a hand on his shoulder,

"We're not done talking about the military," he said in a low tone. Canard gritted his teeth as he moved into the spot Pochard had been standing in.

"I'm sorry, Canard. I regret to inform you I will not be attending your birthday party. Not like this..." she said, picking up a pile of baby feathers in exaggeration.

"Mom, can you give us a moment?" he asked. Chloe nodded and closed the door as she left.

"Hey kiddo." he started, picking up the brush and going behind her.

"No, don't! You're going to yank out my feathers!" she exclaimed, grabbing her remaining mane protectively.

"That's the idea, sis," he said, firmly moving her arm and pulling the brush through. The feathers came out with it.

"No, no! Not my mane!" she shrieked.

"Anna!" he stopped, turning her around to look at him, "it has to happen." he insisted.

"But my feathers-"

"Will grow back." he interrupted. "Remember like 4 years ago, the same thing happened to me?" he asked.

"Kind of," she admitted.

"Do I have feathers?" he asked her. She only nodded.

"It's natural, kiddo. Your feathers will be back before you know it. More shiny and gorgeous than before."

"You promise?" she asked.

"Cross my heart!" he promised, making the motion. "Now let me get your loose feathers out of the way so I know what I'm working with here."

He pulled the brush through her hair, picking out baby feathers as he went.

"So, what did dad mean?" Anna asked, looking in the mirror at her brother, "about the military?"

Canard sighed out, glancing away.

"Dad wants me going into the military. Says it'll be good for me," He rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to?" Anna asked, catching his gaze in the mirror.

"No," he shook his head.

"What is it you wanna do?" Anna asked. He sighed again.

"I have no idea, sis. But I know this," he met her gaze again through the mirror, "I'm never joining the military."

* * *

The day was the perfect feel of chilly. It was April 9th, and the Thunderbeak and Flashblade families were gathered together at The Hub. There was an ice rink, go-carts, laser tag, a trampoline room, and an arcade. Wildwing had turned sixteen in January, so this was kind of a combined celebration for the boys, although Canard's birthday had been April 4th.

Anna had already kicked everyone's butts at the go-carts, Canard had killed at laser tag, and now the families had organized themselves in makeshift teams out on the ice rink.

Canard was center for the Thunderbeaks. Chloe and Anna were doubling as both wingers and defensemen while Pochard guarded the goal. On the other side, Nosedive was Center, Torrent and Nora doubled as the wingers and defensemen while Wildwing took the net.

Anna got a shot on Wildwing, much to both Canard's and Wildwing's amazement. Nosedive, however, came back and shot two goals on Pochard.

"Come on, dad!" Anna shouted back, "it's just Nosedive!" she mocked both her dad and Nosedive at the same time.

"I'm not as young as I used to be, kiddo." Pochard said breathlessly, spinning his hockey stick in his hand.

"Come on, old man. We can take them!" Canard snickered, skating behind the net. Pochard arched an eyebrow, rolling his eyes at his son.

"Speak for yourself, whippet!" Pochard shot back as Canard took his place at center again to face off against Dive.

Dive got the puck, but Anna skated through, quicker than anyone could see her, and she stole the puck from him.

"Hey, Annie!" he skidded to a halt and in doing so, tripped over his own skates.

"Mom get her!" he yelled back, and Nora took off after Anna.

"Get away from me, Nora!" Anna felt the adrenaline, feeling her aunt come up behind her. She felt Nora right behind her and quickly handed the puck off to her mom.

Chloe took the puck, skating skillfully toward Wildwing.

"Just try it, Aunt Chloe!" Wildwing urged, facing toward her.

"Nah, don't think I will." She winked, quickly passing it toward Canard. Before Wildwing could switch his position, Canard fired and scored a goal.

"The Thunderbeaks win, and the crowd goes wild!" Anna cheered, skating toward her brother and throwing herself on him. The momentum threw them around on the ice, both laughing.

"Uh, guys, we're two all." Nosedive pouted, skating up.

"Next goal wins?" Chloe offered, meeting Nora's gaze. Just then, an employee walked by.

"Hey guys, just letting you know, we're closing in like 5 minutes."

"We can kick their butts in 5 minutes!" Nosedive egged on, eyeballing Anna.

"No, Nosedive. We need to be dressed out and walking out those doors in 5 minutes." Nora explained.

"Then I guess it's a draw." Pochard smiled, skating up. He reached out a hand, shaking Torrent's. "Good game, sir." He mocked.

"And to you, good sir." Torrent mocked back.

"Hey, excuse me!" Chloe called, skating off after the duck that had walked by. She came back to the group, and they realized she had handed off her camera to the employee.

"Everyone together!" she ordered.

"But mom, you know I'm molting!" Anna suddenly whined.

"Me too, Annie! Don't sweat it, girly girl! Embrace it!" Nosedive exaggerated loudly, plucking some of his white fluff off of his arm and dropping it on her head. She blew out, rolling her eyes at Nosedive as he pulled her in under his arm for the picture. Canard ended up on her side while Wildwing ended up posing next to his brother. The parents gathered up in a line behind the kids.

Anna would never forget that picture and the happiness of the day that it had captured. Looking back, she'd ended up having so much fun with her family she had completely forgotten she was molting.

* * *

_2 years later, 1990_

It didn't take long for Anna's beautiful light brown feathers to grow in after that. Her mane had grown back just as long as ever and was a beautiful dark mahogany brown.

She stood in the bathroom brushing her hair out. After she had it smoothed out, she pulled half of it back, tying it up into a bun. She glanced back in the mirror, ok with the result but not smiling.

"You look beautiful." Anna turned to see her mom standing in the doorway. Anna smiled before tears entered her eyes. She braced herself against the sink, looking away from her mom and squeezing her eyes shut, begging the tears not to fall. Chloe rushed forward, pulling Anna in a hug. Anna allowed herself to cry, safe in her mom's embrace.

"I know baby, I know." Chloe soothed.

"He's not here for Canard's graduation. He won't be here for mine," Anna croaked before sobbing out loud.

"Anna?" she glanced up to see Canard wearing his graduation gown, his cap in his hand at his side.

"He'd be so proud of you." Anna sobbed, switching over from her mom to her brother.

Canard dropped his cap, gripping his sister tightly into his chest. He met his mom's gaze. Chloe had tears running down her face as well, and Canard gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn't cry. He had to be strong. But it was still so fresh.

It hadn't even been two months since Pochard had left on a nightly walk and he hadn't come back. Anna and Pochard had had a huge fight right before he left, and Canard knew she blamed herself.

After the fight, and after Pochard had been gone for about fifteen minutes, Anna had gone out to find him. After she ran out, almost an hour passed before Chloe called Pochard's old partner on the police force, worried about her husband and daughter.

Greg and Morton found the pair in an alley. Pochard was dead, and Anna was frozen in shock, hugging around his body. When she'd gotten there, Pochard had already been fatally wounded with a blade. Anna, unfortunately, hadn't seen what happened, but it was without a doubt murder. All the cops had to go off of was a golden feather that had been found at the crime scene.

The doorbell rang and Canard snapped back to reality. Chloe sniffed, wiping her fingers under her eyes to fix the makeup she'd put on.

The three ducks made their way downstairs and were greeted by the Flashblade family. Wildwing's smile faltered at the sight of the family. Anna's eyes were red and puffy, and she stood ever so slightly behind Canard as if to hide. Chloe smiled, but her eyes revealed her true emotions. Canard gave a tight-lipped smile before inviting the group in.

As Torrent, Nora and Nosedive walked past, Wildwing stopped next to Canard, waiting for an explanation.

"Today's going to be rough. Anna's not handling it well." Canard explained.

"Because your dad-"

"Yeah," Canard cut him off as they walked into the living room.

"Come on! Flashblades, then kiddos, then Thunderbeaks!" Chloe exclaimed with excitement, trying to get back into a happy mood. Chloe loved her picture taking. The house was full of pictures.

The Flashblades scooted together, and Chloe paused.

"Wildwing put the cap on." She ordered.

"Fine." He groaned, rolling his eyes playfully at his aunt. Chloe smiled as Nosedive gave his brother bunny ears.

"Alright, Anna and Canard. Get in there." She ordered. Torrent and Nora left the picture area as Anna and Canard crowded in. Anna's eyes were still glossy, but she seemed to have pulled herself together.

"Canard..." Chloe started.

"Yes, mother." He mocked, putting his own cap on. Wildwing snickered.

Canard smirked, going to wrap his arms around Anna and Wildwing. As he brought his arm up, he smacked Wildwing in the back of the head. Wildwing glared at his friend, but Canard just smiled pridefully. Nosedive rolled his eyes at the pair as he posed next to his brother.

After the picture, Chloe handed the camera off to Nora as she moved to pose with her kids. Anna felt it, right then. An empty space on her right. A hand that would be placed on her shoulder in nearly every picture. It wasn't there anymore. As the camera snapped, Anna blinked, and tears filled her eyes again.

"That was it." She murmured.

"What, baby girl?" Chloe asked. Nora paused, lowering the camera. Torrent, Nosedive, and Wildwing went silent and tuned into the conversation. The house was quiet, waiting for Anna's explanation.

"That was the first picture without Dad." She said, glancing up as a tear fell.

"Oh, baby." Nora rushed forward, gripping Anna in a big hug. Anna fell into her aunt's hug, and she was crying again.

"I know, Anna. I know it hurts. We all miss him, baby girl." Nora glanced back up at her husband who was looking down. Wildwing had moved next to Canard. Nosedive wrapped himself around Anna from behind, his head resting on his mom's arm.

"This is supposed to be a happy day!" Anna exclaimed, "why isn't it happy?"

"Because there's a piece of the puzzle missing," Nora said simply. She pulled out, tilting Anna's chin to look at her.

"Your dad… he left some pretty big shoes to fill. Our family. The Flashblades and the Thunderbeaks, we're one big puzzle and right now, we're missing a really big piece. But it's ok because we still all fit together. We're still a family unit." Nora promised with a smile, "it's going to be hard. I'm not going to sugar coat it. It's going to be so obvious he's missing from the puzzle set. But we'll work around it because that's what we do. That's what we have to do."

"And we'll help each other to be able to fit wholly again," Chloe added, and Nora smiled up at her best friend. Anna sniffed, pulling herself together. She sighed out, her breath was shaky.

"Okay," she nodded, "I'm ready. I'm sorry everybody. I must be such a drag."

"No, you're grieving, baby. We all are."

"You are?" Anna asked.

"Oh yeah, we're just better at hiding it," Canard said with a smirk, "you know how hard it is to see you cry and not break down myself?" she half-heartedly smiled at her brother, "we all miss him, Annie. But like Aunt Nora and mom said, we'll help each other, and we'll get through it… together."

* * *

_4 years later, December 1994_

Anna sat at her desk, working at the computer. 2nd draft of Senior papers was due before winter break, and she was wracking her brains, trying to come up with something, anything, to fix her paper. The teacher recommended adding some goals for after school. College was too broad. The teacher wanted her to dive into what she expected to get out of college. She didn't know. She didn't even have a major picked out yet. She didn't want to think about that sort of stuff until after Christmas break.

The phone rang and she sighed out, picking up the landline in her room, knowing her mom was at work.

"Yellow?"

"Annie, I'm dropping out!" Anna snickered at Nosedive's stressed voice.

"What happened this time?" Anna asked, resting the phone on her shoulder as she pulled up a game of solitaire to keep her busy while talking to Dive.

"The professor keeps marking problems wrong because I'm writing out the decimal to the 100th place."

"Oh?" Anna asked.

"The answer was 5.8… she marked it wrong because I didn't write it as 5.80. I mean, how bogus is that! I got it right!"

"Yes, but what did the instructions say?" Anna asked.

"The problem was 8.44+X=14.24. round to the nearest-" he cut himself off.

"Round to the nearest 100th decimal place?" she asked him with a smile.

"Yeah but that's still stupid. If you put 5.8 back into the equation, it still equals 14.24. This class is stupid…" Nosedive pouted, flustered.

"I agree, it is kind of stupid you got marked wrong for not putting in another zero but, I mean, maybe it's a test to see how well instructions are followed."

"Well, that's stupid." Nosedive scoffed.

"You've never been great at following directions." Anna commented, "So when are you guys on break?"

"My last class before break finishes at 2 on Wednesday, and I'll be catching the next train home that day."

"What about Can and Wing?" Anna asked.

"How should I know? They've got jobs." There was a hostile tone and Anna mentally slapped herself.

"Sorry, Dive." She murmured, knowing he'd just lost a job.

"Hey, no big deal. I was too good for that place anyway." She could hear his voice change, trying to hide the disappointment.

"So, are you coming here when you get home?" Anna asked, knowing Nosedive always knew the latest movies out, and always wanted to binge them with her.

"I'll stop by my place and say hi to my parents, and then yeah, I'll be heading your way."

"Alright. I've got that aikido class right after school."

Nosedive knew what that class was for. It was some sort of class she had enrolled in about 4 years ago. It was a martial arts/swordsmen training class. She had actually excelled in it.

"The class will be over at about 4:30," she added, "I can't stay up all night since my break doesn't start until next week, but we can probably get through a couple of movies, depending on how much homework Wigeon decides to cram down my beak."

"ah, screw the homework. I'm more important!" Nosedive said proudly. Anna rolled her eyes.

"I'll see you Wednesday, Dive." She wrapped up the conversation.

"See ya then!" she shook her head, hanging up the phone.

* * *

Canard sighed out, rubbing his eyes and pushing away from the desk. Wildwing glanced over at Canard from the couch.

"Remind me again why I decided to go to school?" Canard muttered.

"Oh, shut up, you get all A's." Wildwing snapped, muting the TV.

"Yeah, but for what? These are just Gen Ed's. I haven't picked a major yet. I just-" Canard trailed off.

"You wanted to get back on the ice. I know." Wildwing admitted, shrugging.

"I was just goofing around when I applied for that scholarship." Canard admitted.

"Just pick your major carefully." Wildwing smirked, leaning back against the couch. "it's nice having a stable job, but I get so tired of staring at numbers all day."

"It could be worse." Canard argued.

"How could it be worse?" Wilding asked, looking back at his best friend.

"You could have student loans." Canard said simply.

"Touché" Wildwing nodded, unmuting the TV.

The boys had graduated in 1990. Wildwing had gone off to school instantly, having won a full-ride hockey scholarship. Canard had decided to head off to the Military, something his father had always wanted him to do. He felt he was fulfilling a last wish of sorts. Wildwing had graduated in May earlier this year, getting his degree in Accounting. It seemed like a boring degree, but it provided stability, and Wildwing didn't want to muck around with other degrees and possibly take longer to graduate. When Wildwing graduated, Canard made a joke about applying for the same scholarship Wildwing had gotten. Wildwing shrugged, telling him there couldn't be any harm in just applying. To Canard's amazement, he was awarded a full-ride hockey scholarship, same as Wildwing and the next thing Canard knew, he was a freshman enrolled in basic Gen Ed classes. He'd had four years in the military to think about what he wanted to do, and he still had no clue, although he was leaning towards forensic sciences or criminology.

Now, Wildwing and Canard shared an apartment a few blocks away from campus. Wildwing worked 9-5, Monday thru Friday. Sometimes he came home early, but that would soon be changing with the new year when Tax season came around. Canard's schedule was a little crazier. Most of his classes took place in the AM. After classes, he would sometimes come home and sleep, and then around 8 or 9 PM, he would get up and go to work. He worked as a Night Stocker at the local grocery store just down the street. He had it set up so that he worked 12-hour shifts, so he only worked 3 days a week. On his days off, he spent most of his time doing homework or catching up on sleep.

Canard let out a groan, glancing at his watch.

"Speaking of a stable job, I better go if I want to keep mine." He murmured, standing up. He took off his shirt, heading for his room. He came back out seconds later, now in a green work shirt.

Wildwing glanced at the clock on the wall.

"And I better head to bed if I want to keep mine." He added, flipping the TV off, knowing he had to work in the morning.


	4. You call yourself a thief?

Anna typed out a few more lines, trying to bullshit her way through the paper. She figured nursing sounded realistic enough, considering her mom was one. The phone rang and she rolled her eyes, pulling the phone off the hook.

"What now?" she asked, figuring it was Nosedive again.

"Hello?" came the confused voice.

"Trent?" she asked, recognizing the voice.

"Oh, uh. yeah. Anna?" he asked.

"Sorry, I thought you were Nosedive." she explained.

"Oh, well nope. Not Dive. Just a guy wondering if this cool chick I know wanted to go see a cool movie with a cool guy." he said.

"Which cool guy?" she asked.

"Me silly!" he said, laughing.

"Wait, you're cool?" she asked playfully.

"Anna!" he scolded playfully.

"Just kidding, of course you're cool. And yes, I would be happy to attend a movie with a cool guy. What time and what day?" she asked.

"How about Saturday?" he asked.

"Saturday sounds great."

"7:30 sound good?" he asked.

"Yup sounds good to me," she replied.

"Alright, sounds good. I'll pick you up at 7:30 on Saturday!" he said excitedly.

"Alright, bye!"

"Bye!"

* * *

_Saturday_

Chloe pulled herself out of bed. She didn't have to get ready for work for another couple of hours, but she rubbed her eyes, figuring she ought to eat something before her shift.

As she went down the hall, she passed the bathroom. The door was open, and the light was on. She saw Anna standing in front of the mirror, putting on some mascara.

"You're getting pretty dolled up for just going to pick your brother up," Chloe commented, slightly switching the subject.

"Oh, I'm not going to get Canard. I'm going on a date with Trent tonight." Anna explained, setting the mascara down.

"Oh, does your brother know?" Chloe asked.

"Uh…" Anna picked up a hair tie, "no." she glanced away from her mom.

"I don't know, Anna. You know how Canard's going to be when he finds out his favorite sister went to the movies with some guy instead of meeting him at the train." Chloe interpreted. Anna stood there, trying to pick a style for her mane.

"I'm his only sister, I have to be his favorite. And besides, it's not some guy. It's my boyfriend of 4 months." Anna explained.

"And how exactly are you planning on breaking the news to him that you're officially dating?" Chloe asked. Anna just smiled. A knock was heard at the door and Anna tied the tie in her hair and turned to her mom, kissing her cheek.

"I'll improvise." she said, rushing past her mom, "gotta go!" she said.

"Wait, where are you going to be?" she asked.

"Westside theater," Anna called, already halfway down the stairs.

"Alright, sweetie. Have fun! Love you!" Chloe called.

"I will! Love you too mom!" Anna said as the door to the house slammed.

* * *

_A couple hours later..._

"Ma, we're home!" Canard called as he and Wing entered the house with their luggage.

"Hey, sweetie!" Chloe called, walking down the stairs in some scrubs.

"You gotta work tonight?" Canard asked. Chloe nodded, sitting down on the couch and pulling her tennis shoes over.

"Yeah, I'm sorry baby. I know you just got home. I've got tomorrow off, though. We'll go do something." Chloe promised. Canard nodded.

"It's alright, Ma. Don't worry about it," Canard promised as Chloe tied her shoes.

"Oh, hey. where's Annie? She didn't meet us at the train station like normal." he brought up, cocking his head. Chloe stopped putting her shoes on and just sat there for a second.

"Now, don't get mad." she started.

"Ma, I'm not going to get mad." he tried.

"She's at Westside theater-"

"With a few girlfriends, right?" he asked. Chloe shook her head.

"On a date?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. Chloe nodded and Canard growled.

"Now don't you think about going down there, Canard Haymish!" Chloe warned, pointing a finger at her oldest as she stood up, "she's growing up, baby! It was only a matter of time before she started dating."

"I know, Ma," he sighed out, "Have you met the kid? Is he right for my baby sister?" Canard demanded.

"His name is Trent Icefeather. He seems well put together, as far as I've seen," Chloe tried, "just… before you get all protective, wait until she introduces you to him."

"Okay," he agreed, holding his hands up in defense as she shoved past him. She pulled the keys to the car off the hook.

She stopped in her steps, turning around, "and no setting up a scene to make it look like you're cleaning your gun when they get home tonight." She snapped at him, pointing another finger at him.

"Okay, okay. I won't!" Canard defended both hands up. Chloe glared playfully at him, before smirking.

"I love you, and I'll see you in the morning," Chloe said, pulling her son into a hug.

"Love you too, mom." Canard said, smirking back at her. Chloe looked past him to Wildwing, who had stood behind Canard quietly.

"Goodnight, Wildwing!" she called.

"Oh, yeah. Goodnight, Aunt Chloe!" he called back as she left out the door.

"Canard, no." Wildwing said after a moment of silence. They heard the car start outside.

"What?" Canard asked, nonchalantly grabbing a set of keys off the hook.

"Canard…" there was a warning tone to Wildwing's voice. They both saw the headlights flash through the window as Chloe drove away.

"Yes, Wildwing?" Canard asked, playing dumb. Wildwing sighed out.

"We're going to the theater, aren't we?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Canard.

"Yup!" Canard confirmed, walking out the door.

Wildwing rolled his eyes before picking up his duffle bag and heading for the door.

* * *

Anna and Trent walked out of the theater, heading towards his dad's truck.

"So, uh... did you like the movie?" he asked as they walked towards the truck. They had caught the late show and had stayed past the credits. Ever since they missed a secret ending on a movie about two months ago, they stayed past the credits now.

"It was pretty good. Probably would have helped if I didn't have a handsome duck sitting next to me, distracting me," she said with a smile.

"Okay, Anna. I'm calling you on that one, that was cheesy!" he said, making a face.

"Shut up and kiss me." she muttered as they reached the front end of the truck. He took her into his arms.

"As the lady wishes." he kissed her softly, and Anna fell into him.

They heard a throat clear and turned abruptly towards the sound. A raptrin stood in front of them, holding out a blade and pointing it at them. He had brownish-gold feathers and Anna's eyes widened once she realized they were getting robbed.

"Wallets, jewels and anything else of value you might have on you," he demanded.

"And if we refuse?" she demanded back.

"Anna!" Trent hissed, grabbing her hand.

"Listen to the chap there, and we won't have any problems," he said, directing his blade more in her direction.

She silently cursed herself, and she glared at him. Golden feathers, robbery done with a blade. She couldn't help but make the connection to the night of her father's death. And she hadn't brought her saber.

"How about that bracelet," he demanded, seeing it glint in the light of the nearby parking lot lamp.

she smirked. For a thief, he didn't really know his jewels.

"Seriously?" she scoffed.

"Stop, Anna."

"No, seriously. How much do you think it's actually worth?" she asked the raptrin. She caught him off guard and he took a step back, looking sheepish. Before she could get an answer, though, she saw a shadow behind the raptrin and the nearby parking lot lamp went out, causing the parking lot to become darker.

"Falcone, what's going on here?" came the Brooklyn accent and a grey duck stepped from the shadows, his brown eyes almost instantly connecting with Anna's. She glared, seeing he knew the raptrin that she was sure had killed her father.

Falcone didn't answer, knowing he'd been caught.

"What have I said about muggings?" the newcomer asked, scolding Falcone. Falcone looked down, guiltily.

"But..." the falcon had nothing as he stood quietly.

"You kids are alright to go. Sorry about this." the newcomer said. Trent nodded, already running for the driver's side. Anna stood there.

"I'm not going anywhere," she growled.

"Anna!" Trent tried, pulling the door open.

The grey duck looked back at her, shocked.

"What?"

"He killed my father!" she growled.

"That's quite an accusation," The grey feathered duck raised an eyebrow before crossing his arms and turning on Falcone.

"Is this true?" he asked, demanding an answer.

"Really, Duke? You would take the word of some girl you just met over a member of your gang? Your family?" Falcone asked before glaring back at Anna, "I can't recall killing your father, little girl. Sorry. Now run along." he tsked at her. She wasn't having it.

"His name was Pochard Thunderbeak. He had light brown feathers and green eyes. He was out for a walk 4 years ago and was brutally attacked and murdered! The crime was done with a blade, and there was a golden feather left at the crime scene." she stepped in front of the one called Duke, so she was face to face with Falcone. Duke glanced back at Falcone; a look of disbelief plastered across his face.

"Pochard Thunderbeak?" he narrowed his eyes, turning back to Anna, "as in Detective Pochard Thunderbeak?" Anna cocked her head at him but nodded. Her dad's name was more well known than she had thought.

Falcone's eyes met Anna's, and he got an icy grin on his beak.

"Yes, alright. I did kill him."

"You killed Pochard Thunderbeak!?" Duke asked, obvious shock and anger written across his face.

Falcone turned toward him nonchalantly, "completely coincidental, but an opportunity had presented itself. The same as it had with Kale," he shot a knowing look at Duke.

Duke's eyes went wide at this information before his jaw hardened.

"I knew it. You wanted that spot on the council." the grey duck muttered, piecing it all together.

"Yes, but no. They give the spot to Kale's baby brother, Duke." Falcone squared up with Duke, pushing Anna out of the way. "The spot that should have been rightfully mine! The spot reserved for the greatest thief of all!" he said dramatically.

"The greatest thief of all, and you're out here mugging kids?" Duke shot at him.

"But of course. That's what makes me better than you. I do **all **the crimes," he turned sideways, and Anna saw him reaching for his saber from where she was.

"Look out!" she yelled, and Duke's eyes went wide as he saw Falcone's saber come out of hiding. He grabbed his own from his shoulder but by the time he activated it, Falcone had brought his blade up. Anna didn't see what happened. She only saw Duke fall backward and saw a bit of blood splat on the ground.

"No!" she gasped, having realized her and Duke were on the same team. She sprinted past Falcone to the fallen duck. There was blood, she could see, falling from a fresh chip in his beak and a cut above his eye. At least, she hoped it was above his eye.

"Here." she grabbed his hand and placed her handkerchief in it before moving his hand to put pressure on the cut above his eye. She turned to see Falcone approaching them.

"I don't know why you're bothering," he said, pulling back his sword and aiming for Duke. Anna looked to her side, seeing where Duke's saber had fallen. She grabbed it and activated it. She met Falcone's blade, stepping into his attack. He looked genuinely shocked but soon wiped the look away from his face.

Trent had gotten out of the truck and kneeled by where Duke had fallen. He had a t-shirt in the backseat that he had tossed back there nonchalantly a few days ago. Now, he was pressing it over the already bloody handkerchief and beak.

"You alright, pal?" he asked. Duke just nodded, not wanting to talk if he didn't have to. His beak severely hurt!

Anna threw Falcone's blade back, but he brought it back for another attack. She blocked it skillfully. They went back and forth, throwing attacks and blocking attacks for what seemed like forever. Duke could only stare in awe, surprised that this civilian was keeping up with Falcone so well.

Finally, Anna was able to throw the saber out of Falcone's hand. He looked to where it landed before looking back, seeing her blade pointed at him. His hands were up, and he looked as if he might try pleading for his life. Anna gritted her teeth, seeing red. She didn't even register the squealing of tires in the parking lot.

"Anna!" her brother's voice pulled her away from the raptrin. Her eyes never left the bird, but she could now see her brother out of the corner of her eye.

"he killed dad!" she explained to Canard.

"Good, we'll call the police. Good work, Anna." Canard praised.

"Oh no, he's not going to jail. I was thinking more like the morgue." Anna said threateningly. Her arm started twitching slightly.

Falcone jumped back at the word "morgue".

"You're going to kill me?" he asked, and everyone around her held their breath.

"Anna, think about what you're doing!" Canard reasoned, "think about Dad. What would he do?"

She deactivated the saber, sighing. Falcone sighed with relief before Anna threw herself forward, punching him. He fell back. She landed on top of him, punching him again. She didn't mean to keep hitting him but once she started, she couldn't stop.

The next thing she knew, she was being pulled off the bird and into someone's arms. She looked up, seeing Canard was holding her. She glanced over to the rest of the ducks in the parking lot.

Duke was standing now, and they had managed to stop the bleeding on his beak. He still held the handkerchief to his eye though. Duke and Trent walked over as did Wildwing who had been standing by Canard's truck up to this point.

"You're uh... you're pretty good." Duke commented and Anna realized she still had his saber. She held out the handle to him and he took it back.

"Sorry. I guess I kind of borrowed it without asking." she muttered.

"I'm glad you did. Otherwise, we both mighta been shish kebab," he muttered, putting the saber handle back on his shoulder. She smiled at him and at about that moment, Trent pushed his way through, kind of booting Duke out to the side of the group.

"Oh Anna, I was so scared!" he said.

Duke crossed his arms, glancing back to where they'd left Falcone.

He was sitting up, his gun pointed at the group.

"Little brat." he heard him mutter and knew he was aiming for Anna. Duke rushed towards Falcone, landing on his arm just as a shot rang out in the parking lot.

Duke punched Falcone again, knocking him out. He then took his gun and handcuffed him to the light pole nearby.

"Stick around, Falcone," he muttered before glancing back at the group. Someone was on the ground and he rushed back over.

"Anna!" Canard's voice sounded above the group, and Trent had tossed him the t-shirt from before. Anna was shaking on the ground, going into shock as blood came oozing from a wound in her shoulder. Duke bent down, taking her hand.

"I'm sorry, Anna." he murmured.

Canard wrapped the t-shirt around her shoulder, tying it tight to try to stop the bleeding.

"Wing, help me get her in the truck!" Canard said, grabbing her upper torso. She screamed in pain as his arm grabbed her shoulder wrong.

"I know baby girl, I know. It hurts." Canard tried to sooth. Duke stood back, not sure what to do. Probably nothing would be best. Trent was following behind Canard, trying to check up on the bleeding girl while they were trying to get her taken care of. Once Duke heard the back door to the truck slam, he decided it would be best to take his leave.

"Wait." Canard stopped him, the door to the truck hanging open for him. Trent had already run over to his dad's truck and was waiting to follow them to the hospital.

"I want to thank you. That shot might have been lined up to kill her." Canard started.

"It still might if you don't get a move on," Duke warned.

"What's your name." Canard asked.

"Go! Get out of here!" he commanded, "I'll take care of the trash." Duke promised, pointing behind him to Falcone.

Canard just extended his hand, shaking Duke's.

"Thank you again," he said before turning around and jumping into the truck.

Duke stood there as both trucks sped away. He was shocked by what he'd just seen. It was almost a blast from the past. Canard looked and sounded just like Pochard. There was no doubt that he was Pochard's son, which meant Canard was Anna's brother.

He turned around to Falcone. Falcone was just coming to and Duke grabbed him by his cape. As he pulled him forward, he twisted his arm wrong in the cuffs and the falcon cried out in pain.

"Now you listen to me, Falcone. I don't care where you go. But if you ever show your face back at the Brotherhood, I can promise you, you'll be dead before you even hit the ground." he growled. Falcone gulped before nodding.

"yes, Duke. Of course, Duke. Whatever you say Duke."

Duke dropped him and Falcone realized Duke had undone the cuffs. He picked up the cuffs and looked at them before glancing around the parking lot. Duke was gone, without a trace.


	5. What happened?

Duke walked into the warehouse, the handkerchief still against his eye.

"Duke what the fuck happened to you?" he turned his head to one of his oldest friends, Darren.

"Long story." he murmured. "Help me get to the infirmary," he said, knowing his eye needed to be looked at.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing." Darren said, taking Duke's arm and guiding him in the right direction. Duke could see where he was going with the one eye, but he was glad to have Darren on his right, so he didn't bump into anything.

"Duke?" The blond female looked surprised to see the duck here.

"Hey, sweetheart. Got an eye problem," he said, removing the handkerchief. she gasped, seeing the damage.

"Duke, um... it looks pretty bad," she said.

"Yeah, it feels pretty bad," he muttered, sitting down in the exam chair. She laid him back, pulling the handkerchief away. Darren stood nearby, ever loyal.

"Darren, you ain't gotta wait around for this," Duke muttered as the girl, Sharla, went about with a warm rag, dabbing gently around his eye to get the dried blood wiped off.

"It's fine, Duke. Besides I'm pretty curious as to what happened." Darren mused.

"As am I!" Sharla scolded, "you weren't supposed to be in here till next week for your yearly physical!" she hissed. He smirked.

"Sorry sweetheart, just had to see ya." he joked, and she slapped his arm as she wiped the blood away.

"Duke, this looks like it was done with a blade." she trailed off.

"Uh, yeah. That's what it was done with." he confirmed.

"Duke, spill." Darren said, sensing his stalling. Duke didn't like it when someone else got the upper hand and obviously that was what happened here.

"Alright, alright. Falcone turned on me." he explained.

"What?" Darren seemed genuinely shocked, as he should have been. Nobody really saw it coming. Duke had his suspicions up to that point, but he hadn't expected it to happen the way it did.

"I caught him trying to mug some kids. They obviously didn't have much, and so I stepped in and told him to knock off the stealing from civilians. We don't do the little crimes; we do the big crimes. We do bank and museum heists. Not pearls from some lady on the street." Duke was voicing what they already knew. He was just making a point that Falcone shouldn't have been doing what he was doing.

"When I told the kids to get on up out of there, the girl... she stopped and there was a form of hatred in her eyes I hadn't seen in anybody ever. She accused Falcone of killing her father."

"Did he?" Darren asked, intrigued.

"He didn't confess at first..." Duke trailed off.

"Oh my god, he did," Sharla said, gasping. Duke nodded. "Hold still a sec.," she said, sticking a needle near the cut on his eye to numb the area up.

"He did. That girl's father was Pochard Thunderbeak."

"Falcone's the one that killed Pochard Thunderbeak?" Darren exclaimed, "how stupid could he be?"

"My thoughts exactly, Darren," Duke muttered, looking away from his best friend, "Falcone admitted to me tonight that he's the one that killed Kale too."

Darren couldn't tell but Sharla could see tears in Duke's eyes, though they could have just been from the pain.

"He killed Kale!" Darren said, gritting his teeth.

"Yeah. He killed Kale thinking he'd get his spot on the council. His anger about me getting the spot came out and I didn't see it coming. I should have known he'd whip out his blade on me when he turned sideways. I just... he turned back around, and I just felt this intense pain come over my beak and eye. Next thing I knew the girl from before was pressing that handkerchief to the side of my face. Falcone wasn't done yet. He tried to finish me off. He might have, too, had that girl not been there." he paused, letting them process what he'd already told them.

"She picked up my saber. She knew how to activate it and stopped Falcone's attack." seeing Darren's eyes go wide, Duke smiled, "she did more than that, actually. She fought with him and even disarmed him. It was amazing. I thought she might actually kill him." Duke muttered.

"I bet. I mean, I can't imagine being in her shoes, finding the creep that murdered her father." Darren tried to sympathize with this girl Duke described.

"She was amazing, Darren." Duke praised, "I haven't seen anybody that age so advanced with the blade in a long time," he stopped talking for a moment as Sharla stitched up the cut. A look crossed his face.

"What?" Darren asked.

"Once Falcone was disarmed, we left him lying on the ground. We celebrated too early. When no one was looking, Falcone…" Duke avoided Darren's gaze, "he shot her."

"Is she alright?" Darren asked. Of course, he didn't know this girl, but the way Duke talked about her he kind of hoped she was.

"I don't know. The last I saw, her friends or family or something were loading her up in the back of a truck and taking her to a hospital," he said, looking distant.

"What of Falcone?" Darren asked.

"I told that slimy filth that if he ever showed his face here again, he'd be dead before he hit the floor," Duke said with a growl to his voice.

"Well, the stitches are in," Sharla announced, finding a good place to cut into his story.

"I think I can still kind of see out of this eye," he said, pointing with his finger.

"I can see there's some activity." Sharla agreed, "However, you have options you can look at." she drew out.

"What does it look like?" he asked, wondering if that was the reason she was holding back. She bit her lip before giving him a mirror. He had a huge cut going through his eye. His eyelid looked bizarre, and his eye... it still had its brown color but looked as if it was collecting grey specs in it.

"Okay, so what are my options?" he asked.

"Well, it looks almost as if your eye is trying to decide whether to accept the fact that it's injured and go blind, or if it should try to still work, in non-medical terms. Does that make sense?" she asked him. He nodded.

"So, we can put an eyepatch over it and allow it to go blind. I'm sure after probably even just a week, your eye would just accept the fact it doesn't work anymore," she explained.

"Or?" he asked.

"We have this new thing we've recently been studying, since the brotherhood does such a good job at getting their damn eyes poked at..." she shot him a stern look, "so we've done some research, used some ideas from the "real" medical community and, well, if you wanna try it we can. It'll still look like you're wearing an eyepatch, but it'll be more... robotic. Cybernetic. You'll still be able to take the patch off and on when you're sleeping. That won't be an issue. But when you put the patch on, there will be a sort of... how do I put this simply... a micro robotic lens that when you put the patch on it will attach itself to your eye and you'll still be able to see out of your right eye."

"Okay, wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask what the risks were with this." he said, trailing off.

"You lose your eyesight in your right eye forever, which is basically where you are now anyways. You honestly have nothing to lose with this procedure. I mean, besides money but, you're Duke L'Orange." she said simply.

"Yeah... yeah, okay. Let's do it." he nodded. "Until we can get the patch made, should I be doing anything to kind of try to make sure I don't lose my vision in this eye?" he asked, sitting up.

"Just don't irritate it. Probably best if you don't leave the base or go on any heists until we get you fitted with the robotic patch." she insisted.

"Uh huh. But if I did go out, even if only for a couple of hours." she sighed, knowing she wouldn't stop the active duck. She dug around in a drawer, finding a patch.

"Remember what I said, wearing this too long could cause your eye to shut down and go permanently blind." she said, handing it to him. "Go out, get your drink then get your ass back here." she assumed she knew the reason he was wanting out of the base, "And once you get back in the base, that patch comes off and you are confined to your room until I can get the cybernetic patch up and running. shouldn't be more than a day. Two days tops." she promised. He nodded. He let her think she knew the reason he was wanting to leave the base and took the patch, thanking her.

"Oh uh. What about my beak?" he asked.

"Nothing I can do about that. It's chipped. It's just gonna hurt for a few days and then just be a chipped beak." she explained.

"I was afraid of that." he muttered, "thanks anyway, sweetheart. See ya soon." he said, turning and walking out with Darren.

Darren shot a questioning look at Duke once they were out of the clinic.

"Are you really going out to get a drink?" he asked him, "because I'll go with ya." he said. He could use a drink as well, but he was also kind of protective of Duke.

"Nah. Just in case I had to go somewhere within the next couple of days." he said, smiling. Darren thought Duke might be hiding something, but he let it go.

"Duke?" A female voice distracted him, and he turned around to see a curvy duck walking his way. She had white feathers and long blond hair, with blue eyes. She wore a button up shirt tied on the bottom to be a belly shirt with short shorts.

"Hey Chastity," he said, smiling. She gasped, seeing his eye.

"Ooh, babe. what happened?" she asked, reaching her hand up. She didn't touch his eye, but more so hovered near it.

"It's nothin', sweetheart. Go on to the bunk. I'll be there in a sec." he said. She smiled and nodded before turning and leaving, Duke watching her the whole way. He looked back at Darren, who stood there with a disappointed look on his face.

"What?" Duke asked innocently.

"You can't keep doing this." he scolded.

"Doing what?" he asked, keeping his innocent demeanor.

"This. Yesterday it was Donna. Last week it was some Ursula chick." he raised his eyebrows, "How long is this going to go on?" he asked, "I mean, you'll need to settle down sometime."

"Do I?" Duke asked, "What life do we live, Darren? If I ever fell in love, she would never be able to live her life."

"IF she loved you, maybe she would make the changes for you." Darren insisted, suddenly fighting for his friend's love life.

"I wouldn't expect her to, and I wouldn't want her to." Duke shot back.

"Hey, do what you want. I'm just saying, one day you might actually fall in love." Darren muttered.

"Ha, good one Darren." Duke mock laughed. "The day that happens, I'll be your wingman and get YOU laid." he laughed before walking off towards his room.

He opened the door to his room. It was practically dark, except for the dimmed bedside lamp.

Chastity was sitting on the bed. She stood up when she saw him.

"What was that about?" she asked, referring to why he had stayed to talk to Darren. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up at him.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Just work." he lied, dropping his arms to her waist before planting a kiss on her beak. It hurt on the chip, so he was keeping his kisses to where the chip wasn't. His hands pulled her body closer, into his own body as her arms wrapped tighter around his broad shoulders, their beaks remaining locked.

He picked her up and planted her hips on his, moving them towards the bed and falling gently on top of her. His hands fiddled around with the buttons on her shirt. Soon enough, the shirt was on the floor as he dove into her soft kisses again.

His hands trailed down her body, undoing the short shorts and sliding them off skillfully as she messed with the buttons on his suit. Soon, his chest was bare, and she was fully undressed, laid out on his bed.

Before Duke could even think about going all the way, he stopped short.

"Babe, what's wrong?" she asked, sensing his hesitation. His mind wasn't on her. For some reason, it had wandered back to Anna. He shook his head.

"Nothing, sweetheart," he said before letting himself fall back into her embrace.


	6. Hospital

Anna felt the vehicle jerking. Her head was on something. It felt like a duffle bag, but she couldn't tell for sure.

"Hang in there, Annie." she turned her head to the voice and could see Wing sitting in the passenger seat of what looked like the inside of their family truck. She reached for him and he took her hand. "Hang in there," he repeated, and it was the last thing she heard before everything went black.

Next thing she knew, she was watching overhead lights flash over her. Looking up at the ducks around her, she recognized only two. Her brother who had probably gotten her to this point and her mother, dressed in her scrubs. Her hair was in a messy bun and she looked worried.

"Mama?" Anna asked, and Chloe looked down at her daughter for a moment. She grabbed Anna's hand as they rounded a corner. Then as soon as she had come to, she blacked out again.

Canard and Chloe stopped just outside the doors as the rest of the medical staff rushed Anna through the doors to an operating room.

"Alright, Canard. Spill. What happened?" Chloe demanded.

"Come on, mom," he muttered, taking her hands and leading her to the break room. It was employee only but obviously; the nurses and doctors would let their family in on occasion.

He sat her down in a chair and kneeled in front of her.

"I went to the theater," he said.

"Canard-"

"I know, mom. Hear me out. I wasn't planning on hurting the kid. I just kinda wanted to give them a scare and surprise Annie at the same time."

"So why does my daughter have a bullet wound in her shoulder?" Chloe demanded.

"Ma, calm down. I'm getting there. When I pulled up to the parking lot it was chaotic. Anna had a saber and was pointing it at a raptrin. Her boyfriend and some other guy were on the ground. The other guy had been hurt somehow." Canard muttered.

"My daughter was pointing a saber at somebody?" Chloe was shocked and it seemed to be all she heard.

"Look, mom, I got out of the truck and tried to calm her down, but before I could, she told me that..." he trailed off and sighed heavily. It looked like he might cry, and Chloe rested a hand on her eldest's shoulder.

"What is it, sweetie?" she asked.

"She said that it was the guy who killed dad," he said, and Chloe looked shocked.

"I have no proof, mom. But obviously Anna did. I'd never seen her so angry or determined. I honestly thought she might kill him." he muttered.

"She didn't though, right?" Chloe asked, knowing how determined her daughter could be.

"No. She just kicked his ass and left him on the ground. We... we should have tied him up or something." Canard muttered.

"Is he the one that shot my baby girl?" she asked. Canard nodded.

"We let our guard down. Everyone in the group was going on about how Anna had just sword fought in a parking lot. The only one of us who seemed to notice the raptrin doing anything was the injured duck. He ran over, jumping on him but... When I looked back to Anna, she... she had this pained expression on her face and she instantly grabbed her shoulder. I saw her going down, so I caught her and lowered her down. The rest I guess you can figure out. We rushed her over here asap." Canard said.

"What about the injured duck. He didn't come with you?" Chloe asked. Canard shook his head.

"No. He was very mysterious. Wouldn't give me a name and just stood in the parking lot as we left. Said he'd take care of the trash, whatever that means..." he trailed off and then corrected himself, "I mean, I know it meant he was going to deal with the raptrin but... I don't know how he was going to do it. And I didn't ask," he looked away for a moment, "I tried thanking him. He landed on the raptrin's arm just as the shot rang out. I know Anna still got hit but what if the guy had a kill shot lined up, you know?" he said. Chloe nodded.

"I wish I could thank him too. Maybe I still can. If his injuries are bad enough, he might come through here." Chloe muttered before standing back up. "Come on, let's go see what's going on with your sister."

* * *

Duke was lying in bed. He'd only been back for probably about an hour. He glanced over. Chastity huddled under the covers, her breathing signifying she was fast asleep. His arms were resting behind his head. He shook his head, trying to process what was keeping him up. It was that Anna chick. He didn't know why. He didn't even know her, but deep down he had to know she was alright.

"Fuck." he sighed, sitting up in bed. He pulled on a pair of sweats and a white tank top.

He went over to the desk in his room, strapping the eyepatch on carefully before grabbing his saber and overcoat and leaving his room.

* * *

"How is she?" Trent was the first one to stand up when Canard walked back into the waiting room. Wildwing followed suit.

"Well?" he pushed.

"She's fine. Doc said she'll make a full recovery. He said it looks much worse than it is." he said, a smile coming across his beak. Wildwing and Trent smiled and Wildwing hugged his best friend.

Canard pulled out of the hug, eyeing Trent.

"You and me, young man. I think we need to have a little talk."

* * *

Duke walked into the hospital, going up to the front desk.

"Hi uh. I'm here to see Anna?" he said with a question.

"I'm sorry we're not taking visitors right now."

"Well, what room is she in so I can see her tomorrow?" he bugged. The head nurse looked annoyed.

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that information," she said.

"Look..." Duke said, putting his hands on the table. "that girl saved my life. I am needing to thank her eventually, ain't I? Now tell me what room she's in!" he growled.

"Sorry, I can't do that," she said, smiling. "But do have a nice day, sir."

Duke stood up straight, straightening out his jacket.

"You too, ma'am," he muttered, walking out. Once outside, he stopped by a wall and pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of his coat...

"Let's see, Anna... Anna..." he muttered to himself, trailing down the list. "Thunderbeak, Anna! That's the one," he said to himself, knowing all too well who her father was, and his reputation.

He saw that her room number was 314. He looked up the side of the building and counted on the outside and just hoped he was right in guessing she was the fourteenth room on the 3rd floor.

He grappled up and found himself perched on the outside of the window for what he assumed to be room 314. He climbed through. The room was dark, as it should be this time of night.

"Anna?" he said in the darkness. The body in the bed stirred a bit.

"Anna?" he asked again.

"Who the fuck?" Duke was taken aback by a male voice and the bedside lamp came on. A duck sat there, a leg in a cast. His arms were crossed, and he did not look happy.

"Sorry. Sorry, sir. I thought this was my friend's room." he tried, backing out guiltily. As he backed out, he ran into someone. It was a nurse and he just hoped she wasn't anything like the woman he had just dealt with.

"Uh, hi," she said, flipping some stray hairs back out of her face. Her hair was up in a bun, but it looked like she might have had a hell of a night working in the ER.

"Sorry, miss," he said, remembering his manners. "I'm just looking for a friend. I know it's past visiting hours, but I just had to make sure she was ok," he explained quickly.

"What room is your friend in?" she asked, and he sighed with relief, seeing this nice nurse was going to help him.

"314," he said, and her eyes went wide at this. She cocked her head at him, and a loving smile suddenly came across her face.

"This way," she said, leading him down the hall. He was confused by her reaction but followed her anyway. She stopped just outside the door, pointing inside.

"She's just in here. It's a private room." the nurse informed. Duke thanked her before walking in.

Anna was laying in the bed with a sling around her neck, holding her right arm up. She looked to be asleep, but Duke didn't care as he took a seat in the chair next to the bed.

He took her good hand in his and sighed.

"Oh, Anna. I'm so sorry," he muttered.

"For what?" he was surprised to hear the weak voice and looked up at her.

"I didn't get to Falcone in time," he muttered.

"Oh please, I'm fine. Really," she promised.

"Anna, I put you in the hospital," he argued.

"What, because my shoulder got grazed? Duke..." she trailed off, "I'd much rather be in here with a sling and a few pain killers than downstairs in a morgue." she argued back.

He sighed, shaking his head.

"Kid, I know what you're saying, but you still got hurt, because of me."

"Duke. I'm alive. And well. Besides, now I'm going to have a cool scar to spark conversation." she smiled at him. "Kind of like you now," she muttered, looking down.

"Oh, yeah. Guess I had some fun too." Duke muttered, rubbing his beak gently where the chip was. Anna reached over, touching it gently as well.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Nah. Not so much anymore. Just feels funny when you touch it. My eye hurts way worse." he commented.

"Can I see?" she asked. He looked taken aback and she suddenly jerked her hand back, "sorry. That was rude. I mean, obviously you're wearing the patch because you don't want it to be seen." she said.

"No, I'm wearing the patch cause my doctor told me to wear it when I went outside," he said, smiling. He gently removed the patch, wincing as the material pulled away from his eye.

"Oh my god. Duke, I am so sorry," she said, seeing the scar going across it. She reached up, rubbing her hand against the right side of his face. He placed his hand over that hand and closed his eyes against her touch.

"What you sorry for, sweetheart?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

"I didn't warn you in time. I knew... I mean, I could sense-"

"Hey, sweetheart. I could sense it too. If anything, this is my fault. Years of training and I didn't see that coming? Rookie mistake." he explained.

"Years of training?" she asked suddenly, dropping her hand. He looked back at her.

"Uh, yeah. It's nothing, sweetheart." he cleared his throat, "I uh, I just came over to make sure you were alright." he said. "Now, I think you need to get some shut-eye," he said, putting his hand against her cheek. He let it linger for a minute before walking away.

"Night sweetheart," he said as he walked out.

He entered the hallway and just stopped for a minute. Why'd he even come? He almost risked letting it slip he was part of the brotherhood. He shook his head.

"Good, I caught you!" he was shocked by the nurse from before. For a minute he thought maybe a cop was on this floor. He sighed with relief.

"Uh, yeah. I was just leaving. Thanks for helping me find my friend." he muttered, turning away.

"Wait," she said, stopping him in his tracks.

"I just, I wanted to thank you," she said. He raised an eyebrow.

"For what?" he asked.

"You were the one that saved her tonight, weren't you?" she looked at him expectantly and he instantly made the connection.

"Anna's your daughter," he said knowingly, piecing it together. That also meant this was Pochard's widow. At the thought, he looked at her with sorrow. She gave him a confused look.

"yes," she confirmed. "And I couldn't let you leave without thanking you. Canard said you wouldn't give him a name?" she questioned.

"Nobody needs to know my name," Duke muttered, glancing down.

She looked expectantly at him and he sighed, knowing she'd probably get it from Anna later anyway.

"It's Duke." he tried. She looked like she wanted the last name as well, but shook her head, settling for Duke.

"Well, Duke, maybe in time we can all get to know each other and be friends. I feel indebted to you and would love to treat you to a home-cooked meal sometime," she said, handing him a piece of paper.

_475-555-2167_

_2546 Ducaine Blvd._

"I'm not going to force you to do it," she said, once he read over the piece of paper. "Just call the number on the paper if ever you're feeling lonely or hungry and we'll be happy to have you for dinner sometime," she promised.

"Thanks, Ma'am. I can't promise with my busy schedule and all it will happen anytime soon..." he didn't want to straight-up turn her down. He hoped it could turn into a _we should hang out _that never happens. Not that he didn't like the Thunderbeaks, he just knew he didn't live a life that he could afford to let them get caught up in.

"I don't expect it to. You don't have to at all. You could walk out of this hospital and never see any of us again. It would be pretty easy considering you just met us. I'm just giving you the option to become friends with my family someday." she said.

"Well thank you, ma'am. I do appreciate it." he said, waving the paper. "I'll hold onto this." he promised. She nodded.

"You're a good man. I'm glad you were there for my daughter tonight." Chloe said. With that, Duke took his leave.

Chloe turned back around, walking into Anna's room.

"I heard that." Anna muttered; her eyes closed.

"Yeah, and I heard some of your conversation, too," Chloe said. "Barely," she added with a mutter.

"He's so... mysterious." Chloe finally said.

"Yeah. I don't know. There's something about him." Anna said thoughtfully.

"Like what?" Chloe asked with a smile. She could sense his charm had smitten Anna. Although Anna had a boyfriend, Chloe couldn't help but smile at the way her daughter was glowing right now after having spoken with the mysterious stranger.

"I can't put my finger on it. He's... different. I mean, he acts like he's a criminal or something. But I've only seen him do good." Anna said, "Someone who's willing to risk getting in the line of fire to save someone can't be all bad." Anna said before yawning.

"Yeah, well, we don't know his story." Chloe said, "but from what I've seen, he is a very decent drake."

"I think he knew dad," Anna informed, her eyes growing heavy, "he knew dad had been a detective,"

Chloe's eyes grew sad, brushing some hair back from Anna's face.

"Get some rest, sweetie. I have some charting to do and you need to get some sleep. Love you." she said, stepping forward and kissing her daughter's head.

"Love you too, mama," she said, settling back into her pillows.


	7. Duke's Insurance

Anna was still stuck in the sling on the last day of school. That was all anybody wanted to talk about, and Anna was extra thankful it was the last day of school before winter break. She hated the attention and was glad when the day was finally over.

Walking out of the school, she heard a horn honking and turned to see Nosedive sitting in his car with Jess in the passenger seat. She had no doubt, Jake was probably in the back. Jake had been in the same class as Nosedive, and Jess was Jake's older sister who was cool enough to hang out with his friends. Anna waved, heading toward the car.

"Anna, wait up!" Anna stopped, turning to see Trent had just gotten out of his dad's truck and was heading towards her. She turned towards Nosedive, holding her finger up giving the universal "one minute" sign.

"Hey Trent." she said, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face.

"Hey. Listen, sorry about the date-"

"It's fine." she cut in, rocking on her heel. "I had a great time up until then." she said, smiling.

"So, you aren't avoiding me?" he asked.

"No, of course not." She looked at him with a look of confusion.

"Oh, good. Cause the last couple of days I've called the house, you haven't been available…" he trailed off, waiting for her explanation.

"Because I've been busy…" she tried, narrowing her eyes slightly at him.

* * *

"What do you think they're talking about?" Jake asked from where he sat in the middle in the backseat. Nosedive groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Who cares," he muttered.

"Dive. When are you going to stop being so jealous over Anna?" Jake muttered.

"What, me? Jealous of Anna? Puh-lease. I ain't jealous of Annie!" Dive defended.

"No, You're jealous of Trent." Jake shot back at him, and Dive went silent. Jessica turned to look at Dive.

"You like Anna?" she asked, meeting his eyes.

He sighed, looking away again.

"I just, I thought I'd always be the one there for her. I wish it were me she was out there talking with right now. I mean, if she had been with me that night, none of that would have happened. She wouldn't have even had time for a sword fight cause I would have been like "nu huh, girl! Getcha butt in the car, stat!" he said, snapping his fingers a bit. Jess and Jake giggled a little and Dive relaxed. Talk of his feelings had been avoided yet again.

* * *

"Busy?" Trent asked.

"Yeah, you know. Senior papers were due today, and I've been helping my mom with decorating." She explained. He nodded, and she hoped that was enough for him.

"Anyways, I better go see what Dive wants," she said, starting to walk away.

"Hey, wait, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to, I don't know, hang out while you're on break? We could go for a skate or something?" he tried.

She looked back at the car before looking back at him.

"You know, I'd love to, but we've got the annual Thunderbeak Christmas Party coming up and I don't know when I'm going to have time." she tried.

"Oh well, I wouldn't mind coming to that!" he offered. She grinned slightly before nodding.

"Okay. I think we're starting at 6. On the 22nd." she said.

"Great, I'll see ya then!" he said happily before turning around and heading off on his way. She sighed out, rolling her eyes and heading for the car.

"Sorry about that." she apologized walking up to the driver side window.

"It was fine." Jess insisted from the passenger seat.

"So, what did lover boy want?" Dive asked nonchalantly.

"He wants to come to the Thunderbeak Christmas Party. What do you want?" she asked, turning it on him. None of them were high schoolers anymore, so they must need something.

"Movie playing at 4. We came over to see if you wanted to go with us." Jake said from the back.

"A movie sounds terrific. I'll meet you there," she said, heading toward her car that was just a couple spaces down.

"Why don't you just get in?" Dive asked as she rounded the car.

"I'm not leaving my baby stranded at the school!"

* * *

_A few days later_

Duke found himself out for walks more often lately. Especially ever since he got fitted with the eyepatch. Sharla had given him the clearance to go out and about again, plus it was nice to be able to have some vision back in his right eye. He had to admit, it actually looked pretty cool wearing an eyepatch with some sort of a robotic eye inside. It just looked like a red dot on the outside. Very discreet.

He shuddered a little, pulling his trench coat around him better, shoving his hands into his pockets. As he walked, he felt a familiarity with the block he was on. He'd been walking it ever since he had seen Anna in the hospital. On the other side of the street, he saw the house he had become familiar with. On the side of the house was the number 2546. He sighed out. He felt a presence behind him.

"You know, this is borderline stalking." he turned to see his best friend, Darren, come to stand beside him.

"Nah. I got the address from someone who lives here." Duke tried, holding up the piece of paper he had pulled from his pocket. The piece of paper had been crumpled up in his pocket ever since, but it wasn't like he needed it anymore honestly.

"Yeah. You were given the address to be able to find the place when you were invited over. Were you invited over, Duke?" Darren asked. Duke sighed out, shaking his head.

"So, what are you doing here?" Darren asked.

"I was just out for a walk, Darren. That's all." Duke sighed, turning and walking away. Darren glanced back at the house before quickly following after Duke.

"Why are you constantly walking by the house?" Darren asked as they made their way back.

"I don't know, checking up on them I guess," Duke muttered.

"Why?" Darren asked, "it's not like you owe 'em anything." Darren shrugged. Duke stopped, turning on his best friend.

"That girl..." he pointed behind Darren to the house, "I owe that girl my life!" Duke growled, turning around and walking down the sidewalk again.

"But Duke, it was just Falcone." Darren tried again. He just wasn't getting it, and Duke felt his blood boiling.

"Yeah, well, JUST Falcone did this!" he explained, pointing dramatically to his eye. He let the silence circulate for a moment before sighing.

"I don't know, maybe you've got a point," he admitted. He remained looking forward, never meeting Darren's gaze. They came to a stoplight and Duke pressed the button and turned back to Darren. "maybe she is the reason he turned on me that night. I mean, the only reason he even admitted to having any beef with me, to begin with, was because he decided to confess to BOTH murders." Duke explained. The light turned green and they began to cross the street.

"But think of it this way." Duke continued, "if she hadn't have been there, or if she had just got into the truck and left like I had told her to, I would have brought Falcone back with me and eventually, he mighta, ya know, took care of me some other way..." he trailed off, dragging his point out for Darren. "Probably in my sleep or something the way that sleaze bucket works," he added with a mutter.

"You know, I hadn't really thought about that," Darren admitted, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets as a winter chill ran up his feathers.

"Yeah, well, for some reason I can't STOP thinking about it." Duke sighed out. "and now I just feel this need to go on walks and just add her street to my walk just so I can kind of check up on her and her family, and make sure they're doing alright."

"Duke, you know you don't need to and I'm sure she doesn't expect you to." Darren tried. He wrapped an arm around Duke's shoulder, "Now, come on." his tone changed to a more cheerful one, "I think Aiden and Mia went to Frank's. We can meet 'em there, grab a drink or two, and shoot some pool!"


	8. The Christmas Party

_If you haven't cut on, I'm doing final revisions today and, as soon as the revisions are done, I'm posting chapters. I'm hoping to have this story completely updated by the end of the day (9/29/2019), however, life happens and we'll see how long I'll be able to continue on uninterrupted. I hope you all are enjoying this and please enjoy the new reading material! And please review and let me know if you like the changes! _

It was a sunny day out and the group of four consisting of Wildwing, Canard, Anna, and Nosedive, were outside playing some hockey. They had called Jess and Jake to see if they could make it three on three, but they had prior obligations.

So, it was the younger siblings vs. the older siblings. Hardly fair, but pretty fun.

When it was just two on two, they hardly ever used a goalie. At the moment, Anna was on the breakaway, heading for Wildwing who, upon seeing her speeding his way, took his position in the goal. Canard came up on her left. Then, Nosedive was suddenly on her right. Before she knew it, Dive swiped the puck from her and smacked it as hard as he could. Wildwing, though just barely, was able to block it.

"Are you fucking serious!" Anna growled.

"What? I saw Canard on your other side and thought I'd, you know, come to your rescue." Nosedive defended.

"My rescue? Did I even indicate that I was going to pass it to you?" she inquired. He shrugged.

"Well, no. But you should have." he said innocently.

"Nosedive Adavan Flashblade!" he cringed at his middle name and rued the day she learned it, "this is the third time since you got back on break that you've decided that I couldn't handle myself and you stole the puck from me." she called him out.

"Sorry, Annie..." he started, "maybe next time you should just pass it to me." he suggested innocently.

"Ooh, that wasn't a good answer..." Wildwing muttered.

Canard saw Anna's blood boiling and stepped between the two teenagers, mostly for Dive's sake.

"Okay, okay. Let's move on! Annie, go cool down." Canard commanded, playing referee.

"I'm fine, Can." she growled.

"You're not. You need to take a second." he pleaded.

"Fine." she muttered, skating to a nearby rock that stuck out of the ice. She sat on it with a huff, glaring over at Nosedive.

"Alright... Hey, Wildwing?" Canard turned his attention to his best friend. Wildwing looked in his direction, letting him know he had his attention, "You wanna help me work on my slapshot?" Wildwing nodded, happy to get his mind off the argument his brother probably would have died in had Canard not stepped in.

"So, you talked to Trent?" Wildwing asked, peeking Anna's interest as she watched the boys practice. Canard, still slapping pucks at Wing, nodded.

"Yeah, I talked to him." Canard muttered.

"About what?" Anna asked from where she sat.

Canard sighed out irritably. He loved Wildwing like a brother but sometimes, he just wanted to hurt him. It showed in the next puck he dropped. He shot it really hard and Wildwing had to reach out to stop it. It hit the glove and Wildwing felt the vibration in his glove. He shook his hand but was soon bombarded with another puck, this one not going as fast.

"We just talked." Canard muttered.

"I wanna know what you guys talked about!" Nosedive tried, skating by Canard.

"Just drop it, Nosedive!" Canard growled at the teenager, and Nosedive lowered his head as he passed by Wildwing. He just couldn't win with either Thunderbeak today. Then a thought popped into his head.

"Hey, you know I learned something pretty cool in my history class the other day. About the only good thing I've gotten from college," Dive said, trying to switch the subject and maybe warm back up to both Thunderbeaks in one go.

"Wait, whose class are you in?" Canard asked as he slapped a puck towards Wildwing.

"Professor Ferguson," Nosedive said innocently.

"Wait, I think I might be in that class…" Canard mumbled, raising an eyebrow and knowing where Dive was going.

"Oh no, this is about the time of year he does his annual "Drake Ducaine: Fact or Fiction" unit," Wildwing added, batting another puck away from near his head. Nosedive passed by Canard again in his circle he had formed around the two older drakes.

"Yup!" Nosedive confirmed, "Drake Ducaine. He totally ruled, Canard. The saurian overlords had conquered everything." before the ducks knew it, Dive was spilling a short history lesson. Canard let him, knowing Nosedive had successfully changed the subject, "I mean, it was game over for the whole universe, man. And nobody could find them, cause they had like these evil magic powers. Drake Ducaine invents this crazy mask," Canard stopped shooting as Dive skated by Wildwing, pulling off his mask for effect, "a goalie mask that can see through their invisible shields!" Dive put the mask on, pretending he was Drake Ducaine. "So, he hunts down the evil saurians with the mask, right? He kicks their scaly tails clear into another dimension, and the crowd goes wild!" Nosedive did a cheer, raising his arms above his head. As he did, though, he lost his footing, smashing down against the ice.

Canard and Wildwing skated over, as did Anna.

"Man, Wildwing, I couldn't get a single puck past ya." Canard admitted.

"You want a real hero, Nosedive? Well, check out Canard. He's the best student in school, and nobody beats him on the ice!" Wildwing praised, "he's a real team captain. Besides, I've heard all the stories about Drake Ducaine, Dive. They're just legends." Wildwing said, shaking it off.

"Legends?" Nosedive stood up, brushing himself off from the fall, "wake up and smell yourself, man! You're talking about the most totally righteous duck who ever quacked. Flat out!" Dive argued.

"Relax, baby bro. The saurian empire vanished centuries ago." Wildwing wrapped his arm around Dive's shoulders as all four ducks skated off the ice, heading towards the Thunderbeak household.

The Flashblade brothers found themselves recruited to help with food prep for the annual Thunderbeak Christmas Party. Everything was basically already set up, so it was a breeze with so many people working on prep.

Before long, the house was packed with ducks. The night started with dinner before everyone broke away to do different things. Mainly playing board games or watching movies.

Jessica, Jake and Trent had shown up along with Canard's friends from the military; Henry, Roger, Kim and Tim. Three were siblings, Roger being the eldest while Kim and Tim were twins. Henry had been Canard's best friend from the very beginning. Henry had a sister, and Canard had told him to invite her, but she had said no, working on some big project. She'd always lock away in her lab for days at a time when she had a good project going.

Trent was practically glued to Anna's hip the entire time. If she went into the kitchen to play board games, he was right beside her. If it was a game involving teams, he instantly grabbed her, making them a team. If she went to the living room to see which movie was playing, he followed her like a puppy. Right now, they were sitting on the couch. As they sat there, Anna couldn't focus on the movie. She kept thinking about how annoyed she was with Trent. Would she never have a second alone ever again?

Finally, she stood up from the couch. She downed the rest of the beer she'd been working on. He went to stand to, but she held out her hand.

"No, no. Stay sat down. I'm just going outside for some air." she reassured.

"I can come with you." he tried. She shook her head.

"It's fine. I just need some room to breathe."

he stayed sitting and she wasn't sure exactly how he'd taken it. At this point, she could care less. She just had to get away. She slipped outside and in her hurry, forgot her jacket. She didn't dare go back in for fear of someone seeing her and wanting to join her outside.

She walked out to the sidewalk, sitting on a bus bench. The buses didn't run this late, so she had no worry of being mistaken for a passenger. She leaned back against the metal, shivering against the cold. She closed her eyes, allowing her to forget for the moment she was outside. She kept thinking about Trent. She liked him, but she couldn't take the clinginess. He hadn't given her a second to herself. She knew she shouldn't feel this way. She should feel lucky to have him in her life. But tonight, he had just been suffocating. A breeze blew by and she shivered against the cold.

"Little cold to be out without a coat." she recognized the voice and smiled as she glanced up at the grey drake that had come walking up.

"Duke? What are you doing here?' she asked, surprised at the stutter the cold had created. Curse her shivering. Duke heard the cold in her voice and pulled off his trench coat, draping it around her shoulders. "Thanks." she murmured, pulling the coat around her.

He sat down beside her, draping his arm across the back of the bench naturally. She felt herself lean into him and she wasn't sure why. Probably because he was warm.

"What you doing out here, sweetheart?" he asked, completely avoiding her question. "Looks like the party and all your friends and family are in there." he mused. She shrugged. "Claustrophobic?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No. Well, yes, kind of. I don't know." she tried.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked.

"I guess it's Trent." she said, feeling herself start to blurt it out. She felt the need to vent to somebody, and Duke seemed to genuinely care about what she had to say. That and she was already three beers in, so she was starting to feel a buzz.

"Who?' he asked. He could guess, but he didn't want to just assume it was the guy she was with the night of the "almost" robbery.

"Oh, Trent. He's the guy I was with, you know, that night." she briefed. She didn't know why she didn't introduce Trent as her boyfriend. He was her boyfriend, wasn't he?

Duke nodded, showing she could continue.

"Well, ever since that night he's been... I don't know, really clingy," she explained.

"I'm not surprised." Duke murmured. She gave him a funny look.

"I mean, after traumatic experiences, people tend to appreciate things more than before. I mean, the guy watched you get shot." Duke explained. She nodded.

"Well, anyway, he sort of invited himself to this party and ever since he's got here, I've hardly had a moment to myself. I mean, he almost followed me into the bathroom!" she exclaimed. He raised an eyebrow.

"As if Falcone would be waiting for you in the tub or something. "Duke chuckled.

"Exactly!" she let out a small laugh too before she found herself leaning into him naturally. She waited to see if he would shift away but he didn't and instead moved his arm, so it was more around her shoulders than just draped across the bench.

"Look, sweetheart," he started, rubbing her shoulder, "I'm not Trent and I'm not you but, it seems to me you might need to just give him time. Like I said, traumatic experiences change people, but that doesn't necessarily mean in a bad way." he explained. "Maybe before you jump to any conclusions or make a decision you might regret, you might just try talking to him. Tell him how his clinginess is making you feel and see if there's a way you two can resolve the problem."

she nodded against his chest, sighing out.

"That's a pretty good idea." she admitted.

Duke heard the uncertainty in her voice and tilted her chin up to look up at him.

"You don't sound sure." he probed. She just gazed up at him and her eyes seemed to sparkle to him. They were so different, and he realized he hadn't actually had time before to actually study them. They were emerald green with blue flecks in them.

"Hey, kiddo?" Canard's voice was heard followed by the door to the house closing. Almost instantly, Duke and Anna simultaneously scooted apart.

Canard walked up, holding something.

"Trent said you came outside, but I saw your jacket hang-" Canard cut himself off upon seeing Duke, sitting beside her.

"Uh, hello again." Canard said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, my coat. Thank you." Anna finally said, removing Duke's coat and handing it back to him. She stood up, putting on her coat and then hugged her brother.

"Thanks, Can." she was trying to keep things from getting awkward. She knew Duke better than the rest of her family, and that was saying something considering she hardly knew anything about him herself.

"Well, I better head for home." Duke finally said, standing up. Anna didn't want to see him leave but didn't know how to invite him to a party where he hardly knew anyone.

"Why don't you come in for a bit." Canard offered. Anna whipped her head around in shock. Duke also looked surprised but finally shook his head.

"Nah, I should be getting home. Thanks though," he said before turning away.

"Wait, Duke." Anna felt herself speak before her brain could even register what she was doing. He stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at her. Their eyes met and she practically froze. Canard sensed her hesitation.

"Just a quick beer. Then I swear, if you're not having any fun, I'll let you leave." Canard finally said. Anna turned, thanking him with her eyes. Duke sighed out.

"Alright. ONE beer." Duke repeated, almost sternly. Canard nodded, smiling.

With that, the ducks retreated back inside to the party.


	9. The Christmas Party: pt 2

The three ducks walked into the house, and everyone almost simultaneously stopped what they were doing, turning to look at them. Anna sensed everyone's curiosity along with Duke's hesitation.

"Um, everybody. This is Duke." she introduced. Everyone was still quiet. Canard cleared his throat.

"Duke is the one that helped save Anna." the dining room and living room burst into cheers. Chloe came up, finding a moment to hug Duke. He looked shocked by the physical contact.

"I'm so glad you could make it. Thanks again for saving my little girl," she said. She didn't seem at all surprised that he had shown up without an invitation.

"hey, if anything, she saved me." Duke tried, not wanting to take all the credit for that night.

Trent walked up at that point, wrapping his arm around Anna and glancing uncaring at Duke. It made Duke wonder if he had maybe seen him and Anna outside. He had nothing to worry about. All they had done was talk.

"Hey, babe. You wanna go play mad gab?" he asked. She glanced over at Duke.

"Sure. Have you ever played, Duke?" she asked him.

He shook his head.

"Can't say I have," he admitted. He wasn't used to playing board games, watching movies or any other thing considered a "normal pastime" by society.

"Come on, honey. Let's teach him how to play," she said, grabbing Trent's hand.

Trent glanced back at Duke as they entered the dining room and he noticed the drake was still glaring.

As they entered the other room, Trent put himself and Anna on a team. Three more ducks were sitting around the table when they got there. Nosedive, Jess and some duck named Nikki. Anna wasn't sure but thought maybe she'd come with the military brigade.

"You guys wanna play mad gab?" Anna asked.

"Sure," Nikki said, and Anna noticed her looking Duke up and down.

Nosedive and Jess both confirmed they were in as well.

"Alright, so Trent, Duke and I against you three?" Anna tried.

"What?" Trent asked.

"Nah, sweetheart. I gotta get to know people, don't I?" Duke tried. He sat on the side Nosedive was on.

"I'll join your team, girly-girl!" Nosedive said, getting up.

"Oh, no. We don't function well on the same team, Dive." Anna shot at him. Clearly, she was still upset about the hockey game. He sat back down.

"Jess?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, sure," Jess said, smiling while standing up and moving to their side of the table.

"So, where's that beer your brother promised?" Duke asked, leaning back in his chair. Nikki was practically staring, and it made him uncomfortable.

"I'll get you one." she offered, standing up.

She brought Duke back a beer while bringing herself back a Mike's Lemonade.

"Good idea," Anna said, standing up after Nikki had returned.

"You want anything?" she looked back at Trent.

Nosedive smiled cheekily, "Yeah, can you grab me a-"

"I wasn't talking to you," she snapped, glaring back at Nosedive.

"Bud light, please," Trent said hesitantly, noting the hostile response to Nosedive and wanting to stay on Anna's good side.

"Annie, can you make me a screwdriver? If it's not too much trouble," Jess asked politely.

"Of course, Jess." Anna smiled, glancing at Nosedive and smirking before walking off toward the kitchen. She came back a couple of minutes later, skillfully carrying two bottles of bud light, and two glasses of alcohol of some sort. She set the orange one in front of Jess, handed one bud light to Trent, and set the other bottle in front of Nosedive.

"That's… not what I wanted." Nosedive murmured.

"Beggars can't be choosers, Dive." She smirked, taking a sip of her own glass.

"What's that?" Duke asked, cocking his head.

"A little cocktail I came up with. Malibu mixed with Strawberry flavored Sunny D." she explained.

"Hey, kids?" Chloe popped her head in, "I'm heading off to bed. I think most everybody's heading out. Some are still hanging out in the living room." Chloe explained.

"Alright, mama," Anna confirmed she'd heard her mother. Chloe smiled.

"Love you, sweetie."

"Love you too, ma," she said, turning back to the cards.

"And don't drink too much!" she heard Chloe call back again.

"I won't!" Anna called.

* * *

Anna felt irritation flood over her body and was happy once the game was over. Nikki and Duke had been all over each other during the whole game, and she found herself sitting in Trent's lap by the end, hugging on him and kissing him whenever they got a point. Trent, a few more beers in, didn't know exactly why Anna had suddenly warmed up to him since she'd been giving him a cold shoulder all night, but he was enjoying the attention.

The game ended, and Dive stood up.

"Alright, who wants to get hammered?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Me! Right here!" Anna said, raising her hand.

"Me too," Trent said, a slur to his voice already.

"I think you've probably had enough," Duke said to Trent.

"What, you trying to take my booze away, too?" Trent muttered, shoving Anna off his lap and standing up. He headed over to the fridge and pulled out another beer, chugging it.

"Fine, do what you want," Duke muttered. Dive shrugged, going over to a paper bag that had been sitting on the counter all night.

"What's in there, Divey?" Anna asked. She really didn't want to talk to Trent if she didn't have to. He was already drunk, and she didn't like it when he got that way.

Dive smirked, pulling out bottles of liquor.

"Let's see, Vodka, Captain Morgan, Malibu, and BV,"

"We look like alcoholics," Anna joked. She grabbed the Captain Morgan and a couple of shot glasses from the cupboard.

She took a shot and shuddered as the new alcohol entered her system. She poured another shot in her glass and then filled up the other glass, sliding it towards Dive. Duke kept an eye on her, Nikki still sitting in his lap. Jess just sat there.

"You're not gonna join them?" Duke asked.

"Nah. Cause eventually, you turn into that," she muttered, pointing at Trent. Trent was sitting in the chair he and Anna had been sitting in before. He looked a little out of it and Duke was slightly worried.

"You alright, kid?" he asked Trent.

"Don't call me kid!" came the hostel response. Duke cringed back.

"He's alright," Jess muttered, getting up and going to the fridge. She grabbed out some more Orange juice and poured that into a glass. As she passed by the alcohol, she discreetly grabbed the bottle of Vodka and put barely half a shot in her glass.

Duke shook his head, glancing back up at Dive and Anna. They were both giggling like idiots.

Anna leaned into Dive and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his body.

"Huh, looks like someone likes Anna." Duke murmured to Jess.

Jess nodded vigorously in confirmation, showing Duke he was very right. Nikki, barely conscious, was still sitting on Duke's lap. She glanced up at his voice, looking at Dive and Anna.

"Jeez, get a room you two!" she said, giggling. Dive and Anna turned around; shock written across their faces. They had apparently forgotten anyone else was there. Duke saw Anna's eyes and could tell she was already fairly buzzed, if not almost drunk already. She probably had no control over her actions. Trent heard Nikki and glanced up to Dive and Anna.

"What the hell?" he asked, standing up. Duke sensed confrontation and stood up, letting Nikki slide into the chair by herself. Jess rolled her eyes.

"Men." she groaned, taking her glass and walking into the living room.

Trent walked right up to Nosedive, getting in his face.

"What you think you're doing, huh?" Trent demanded, "You of all ducks, Dive? I thought we were friends!" Trent growled, shoving him.

"We are friends!" Dive tried.

"Then why you moving in on my girl!" Trent demanded, shoving him again. Dive hit the counter but remained calm.

"I'm not. We're just taking shots." Dive said innocently.

"Yeah right. I've seen the way you look at her." Trent said.

"Trent, knock it off," Anna growled, trying to get between them.

"Fine, you know what Trent? You don't deserve her!" the alcohol gave Dive new confidence and Anna gave Dive a hard look.

"What you mean, man?" Trent asked.

"You heard me, Trent! She's fun and clever, and smart. She can take care of herself and you treat her like she's the most fragile thing on the face of this planet." Dive challenged.

"Because that's what boyfriends do. They protect their girlfriends. But I guess you wouldn't know that, would you." Trent mocked. Nosedive let out a growl, grabbing Trent low and slamming him into the counter behind him.

"Nosedive!" Anna ran forward, pulling Nosedive off of Trent. At the same time, Trent shoved Dive off, throwing a right hook. Anna got in between them, and Trent hit her right in the face. She flew back and Duke caught her.

Trent stopped, seeing what he'd done. He growled at Dive, rushing toward him, his arm back. Before he could hit Dive, his arm was suddenly grabbed by Canard.

"Alright, break it up!" Canard growled. Duke turned Anna's face to look up at him. He tilted her chin, observing where she'd been hit. Already, a red mark was forming next to her left eye.

"You alright sweetheart?" he asked. She nodded slowly. He glared back at Trent but saw Canard already had caught him in a chokehold.

Canard threw Trent down on the ground, then turned to Nosedive.

"You're better than this, Dive. He might not be, I don't know him. But I know you!" Canard growled at him.

Dive crossed his arms.

"I know, I'm sorry Can. I just got mad," he explained. Canard sighed.

"I know you haven't had the best day, Dive. But drinking isn't going to fix a bad day, especially if it makes you get in a fight." Canard explained. Dive nodded.

"Listen, Canard, I'm a little tired..."

"As well you should be. The couch on the left is open. Your brother's in the recliner. He's still awake if you wanna talk to him." Canard offered. Dive nodded, walking out of the kitchen.

"Annie?" Canard asked, walking over to her. Duke released her as she moved to her brother's embrace. "You alright, Ann?" Canard asked, pulling her into a hug. She nodded against his chest.

Duke waited, standing across from the siblings with his arms crossed. They heard a groan from the ground as Trent tried to get up. He couldn't.

Canard glared down at the other drake before glancing back at Duke. He saw Duke glaring at Trent as well.

"Could you help her upstairs?" Canard asked. Duke glanced back up at Canard, his glare disappearing. He nodded as Canard passed Anna back to Duke. She stumbled a little, a result of the alcohol, so Duke picked her up bridal style, heading for the stairs. She might have protested had she been in her right mind, but it had been such a long night, she just laid her head on his shoulder.

At the top of the stairs, Duke was met by Chloe.

"What happened?" she asked him, "I thought I heard a skirmish."

"Trent and Nosedive got into it," Duke murmured, "Both of them were fairly drunk. Anna got between them, and Trent caught her with a right hook," he explained.

"he swung at my little girl!" Chloe said, anger showing in her eyes.

"I think Canard's giving him a talking to. Don't bother yourself with it, Chloe. Anna's alright." He explained.

"And right here." Anna murmured, raising her hand as she turned her head to look at her mom. Chloe walked forward, placing her hand on Anna's head. Chloe leaned down, brushing Anna's hair back and kissing her forehead.

"I'm gonna go downstairs real quick," Chloe explained, squeezing past Duke. As she walked toward the kitchen, she heard Canard's voice. He was obviously angry.

"-and if you ever hit my sister again, you'll be dead before you've even hit the floor!"

Chloe glanced over at the recliner, where Wildwing gave her a worried glance. She smiled at him before entering the kitchen.

"Mom?" Canard glanced up, "sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't," she promised, walking forward. Trent was laying on the ground.

"Trent, get up!" she hissed.

"I can't," he slurred.

"You got yourself down there, now get up!" she snapped again.

He stumbled a little, using the counter to steady himself.

"I'm sorry, Chloe. I didn't mean to hit her." He apologized instantly.

"No, you were aiming for Nosedive." She said simply.

"Uh, yeah," Trent said, not sure how to respond to that.

"He's like a nephew to me. I've known him and his brother since they were babies. Even if hitting Anna was an accident, you still tried to attack my nephew,"

In the living room, Nosedive glanced up at Wildwing, looking like he was trying to contain his laughter, "oh shit," he whispered to Wildwing. Wildwing put his finger over his beak, showing Dive to be quiet.

"Trent, if you can't be civil around my family, I see no reason for you to stick around," Chloe said simply.

"Are, are you saying I can't see Anna anymore?" he asked.

Chloe sighed out, "No. That's Anna's decision. She's the one who's dating you,"

"What?" Canard asked. Chloe shot him a warning glance,

"But I do want you out for the night. I don't need you starting any more fights while I'm trying to get some sleep,"

"But," Trent started, but was cut off.

"I don't care, Trenton. Get out of my house," she glared, "you can call Anna tomorrow."

"Can I see her before I go?" Trent asked, sounding as if he'd sobered up a little.

"No," Chloe said curtly. Trent glared at her.

"Fine, who wants to stick around this crummy house anyways?" he snapped, grabbing his coat and heading for the door. The door closed with a slam.

"He didn't drive, did he?" Chloe suddenly asked.

"Nope. His dad dropped him off," Canard explained.

At about that moment, Duke walked back downstairs.

"Is she-" Canard started,

"I think she was asleep before I even left the room," Duke nodded, glancing around the kitchen.

"Where's Trent?"

"He went home," Chloe said proudly, going to walk past him to the stairs.

"He's not driving, is he?" Duke asked suddenly.

"No. In fact, unless he finds a payphone somewhere along the way, I'm pretty sure he's walking," Canard said, glancing outside. The snow had begun to fall slowly outside, and it glistened in the streetlights.

"Goodnight, boys," Chloe said, heading back upstairs.

"Night," Canard and Duke said in unison.

"I can't believe he hit my sister," Canard's teeth were gritted as he shook his head.

"He was drunk. He might have hit anybody who got in the way," Duke reasoned.

"I can't believe you're defending him," Canard muttered, glancing back up to meet Duke's gaze.

"Nah, not defending. Just… observing his great traits." Duke said sarcastically. Canard smirked.

"What does Anna see in him, anyway?" Duke asked suddenly. Canard cocked his head at the question but shook his head.

"I wouldn't know. She didn't even tell me she was dating. I found out," Canard looked to be in thought for a second, "the night we met you." He found his time frame. Duke looked taken aback before nodding.

"Hey, Can?" they heard Wildwing from the living room and Canard gave Duke half a smile before walking out of the kitchen.

"You alright, babe?" Nikki asked, walking over from the table she'd been sitting at the whole time.

"Yeah, fine." Duke murmured, not meeting her gaze.

"That was crazy!" Nikki commented, leaning into his side. He held onto her, only so she didn't fall over. These ducks sucked at holding their alcohol.

She looked up at him, kissing his neck. He leaned away and looked at her. She gave him an innocent look before leaning forward again.

"Not now, Nikki," Duke said, pulling away.

"Why not?" she asked.

"You're drunk," he said simply.

"Yeah? So?" she asked.

"I'm not gonna take advantage of you." his simple tone was irritating her.

"You wouldn't be. Do I look like I'm stopping you?" she asked, spreading her arms wide.

"Nikki, stop." his tone was final, and she grimaced.

"Fine, I'll catch y'all later," she muttered, walking over and pulling on her coat. She reached into her jacket, pulling out her keys. Duke saw what she was doing and as she opened the door, he slammed it.

"Get out of my way, Duke," she growled.

"No, you're not going anywhere," he said, stepping in close to her. He took her keys and pocketed them.

"Give me my keys!" she cried, grabbing Canard's attention from where he was bent, talking to Wildwing, next to the recliner. Kim, Canard's girlfriend, was standing nearby and placed a hand on Canard's shoulder before walking over to Nikki and Duke.

"Nikki?" she asked.

"He's being an asshole!" Nikki cried, pointing at Duke. Duke sighed, handing Kim Nikki's keys.

"Here. She's not in any condition to be driving," he muttered to Kim.

"I know." she said, taking the keys, "thank you," she said, guiding Nikki over to the couch on the left, despite Nikki's protests. Kim's brothers had left about an hour ago.

"Here." Canard sighed, opening a closet and pulling out some blankets. He handed one to Kim before draping another over Nosedive and handing one to Wing.

"Thanks, Can." Wing murmured, partially asleep.

Jake was already passed out on the floor and Jess had laid down next to the couch Nosedive was on.

Once everyone was settled, Canard wrapped an arm around Kim.

"Sorry about that." Canard murmured.

"Nah, it's fine. Shit happens." Duke muttered, glancing around the living room, "it could have been a lot worse."

"Oh yeah." Canard agreed, "anyways, there is a guest bedroom upstairs. You're welcome to use that." Canard offered. Duke nodded.

"Thanks. I'll probably get me a glass of water and head up in a little bit." Duke said. He almost said he'd just go home but looking outside he saw it was now blizzarding and the wind was howling.

"Alright. Night." Canard said as he and Kim walked upstairs.

"Goodnight," Duke responded, heading back to the kitchen.

He swirled the last bit of beer that was in his bottle around, just staring at it. He sighed, standing up and walking over to the sink, dumping the bottle out. He threw it away and searched for a glass.

Once he found it, he turned on the faucet and got himself some water before walking back to the kitchen table. He swirled the glass around in front of him, all the while wondering how Anna was doing just up the stairs in her room.


	10. The Morning After

Anna woke with a start. She felt fuzzy and remembered taking shots with Nosedive last night. Consecutive shots. How many did she actually take?

"Ugh, that's one way to get hammered instantly," she muttered to herself. As she stood up, she remembered Nosedive and Trent getting into a fight. Pain on the left side of her face reminded her that she had gotten hit last night. She went downstairs, looking around. Nosedive was asleep on one couch next to a recliner that had Wildwing sleeping in it. On the floor beside Nosedive's couch were Jake and Jess. On the other couch was Nikki. Nikki! Wasn't she coming onto Duke heavily last night? Where was Duke?

"Must have went home," she muttered to herself, walking into the kitchen. She flipped on the light and moved to the coffee maker. It looked like someone had already made coffee. She glanced behind her back to the sleeping mass of people in the living room. She shook her head, grabbing out the carafe and pouring herself a cup. Her thoughts wandered back to Duke.

"Wouldn't be surprised if he did just run off," she muttered out loud to herself again as she poured some sugar in her cup. She stirred a spoon around in the cup and yawned, "wouldn't be surprised if he slept with Nikki too," she let a mini-rant loose since she was the only one awake. Or so she thought. She blew on the cup as she walked around the island and into the dining room.

She flipped on the light and let out a surprised squeak. When the lights came on, they revealed Duke sitting at the table, sipping on a cup of coffee.

"What are you doing here!" she demanded, walking in a little. She felt slightly exposed. She usually slept in a tank top and short shorts, and she felt herself tugging slightly at the shorts as she stood there.

"What, a drake can't have a cup of coffee now?" he snorted.

She looked nervous, wondering how much of her muttering he'd heard.

"What are you doing up so early?" she asked, sitting down at the table next to him. He shrugged.

"What happened last night?" she pried.

"Well, I didn't sleep with Nikki," he smirked, arching an eyebrow at her and revealing he'd heard her tiny rant.

"So, what did happen with Nikki?" Anna asked.

"Last I saw, Kim was laying her down on the couch," Duke said simply.

"And you didn't sleep with her?" she didn't' seem to believe his first answer.

"No, Anna." He seemed appalled.

"Why not? Wasn't she your date?" Anna asked.

"No, she wasn't," Duke said curtly.

"Sure, seemed like it," Anna muttered as she took a sip of coffee.

"Dammit, Anna." she jumped at his tone, "Nikki came onto me. I didn't really have much choice than to accept her advances. Otherwise, she would have gotten pissed and I would have been deemed the bad guy," Duke explained, "because that's what happens; you turn someone down and then suddenly, you're the asshole for not giving them a chance."

"There's always a choice, Duke." Anna retorted, never breaking eye contact. "And don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Rather wise words... for a kid." he mocked. She rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"Still more skilled with a blade than you." she retorted, receiving a raised eyebrow.

"Them sound like fightin' words, Annie," Duke said, leaning forward.

"Well, maybe they are." she challenged playfully.

"So, what exactly happened after the fight with Dive and Trent," she asked.

"You remember all that?" he asked.

"Barely. I don't remember why they started fighting. I do remember getting socked in the eye by my own boyfriend," she raised an eyebrow at Duke, "and then I remember…" she paused, looking back at him. She remembered him holding her, examining the damage Trent had done. She remembered Duke picking her up and carrying her to her room. She shook her head, "I remember getting carried to my room, though I don't remember who carried me," she lied.

"Well, not much after that. Canard got Dive laid down on the couch. Nikki got pissed with me when I told her I wouldn't sleep with her and tried to leave... I swiped her keys and gave them to Kim..." he looked to be in thought, "Oh, at some point before I came back downstairs, your mom and brother kicked Trent out,"

"They what?" she asked.

"He hit you," Duke said curtly, glaring.

"he'd been drinking. I might have hit somebody last night had I gotten the chance," she tried to reason.

"Don't defend that behavior, Anna. You're way better than that." He said.

"You barely know me. How can you even begin to assume that?" she asked.

"I'm a pretty good judge of character," he smirked at her, "and that boyfriend of yours is really something," he muttered. She rolled her eyes at him.

"So why did you turn Nikki down?" she switched the subject, eyeballing him, "All through the night, it looked like you guys liked each other," she said.

"That's called conning, sweetheart. I'm pretty good at it." he chuckled. She eyed him.

"You aren't conning me, are you?" she asked, squinting suspiciously at him.

"Jeez, Anna, what do you take me for, some sort of actual con-artist?" he asked.

"Actually, Duke, if that is your real name, I wouldn't put it past you. I mean, I literally just met you. What do I really know about you? Your first name is Duke and you got your eye fucked up by a low life thief… I don't even know your last name. You could be a serial killer for all I know!"

"I'm not a killer!" he suddenly snapped at her, and she jumped. He sighed out, gritting his teeth.

"I'm not a huge fan of people referring to me as a killer," he said lowly. She looked to be in thought.

"Well, you showed up with a mugger. He mentioned something about you two living or working together? You could be a thief," she reasoned. When he didn't answer right away, she sighed out.

"Duke, I'm not throwing around accusations. I just want to know you."

He swirled his cup of coffee around in his mug. He was somewhat shocked at how close she had guessed his profession.

"Fair enough, sweetheart. But trust me when I say... you don't wanna know me," he muttered. She reached her hand over, taking his.

"Yes, Duke. I do." she tried. He sighed out, taking a quick sip from his mug.

"Anna, trust me. I have nothing to offer you. My life is a Trainwreck waiting to happen and I'm not going to ask you to board that train." he tried. Her thumb rubbed against his hand for a moment, and the gesture caused him to glance back up at her. Had they scooted closer, or had they always been sitting this close? Anna leaned in slightly.

"You don't have to ask, I want to get on the train," she said, her eyes never leaving his. He sighed out again, moving his hand to her cheek. His thumb grazed gently against the black eye that had formed from last night.

"Anna-" they leaned closer to each other, almost bill to bill, "sweetheart, I can't..." he trailed off, not entirely sure what he was doing. He had no control of his actions right now.

Footsteps were heard from the living room and it broke the two ducks from their trance before anything could happen.

"You two are up early." it was Canard, walking over to the carafe and pouring himself a cup. He started some more coffee brewing, knowing Wildwing and some of the others would probably want some coffee too when they got up.

He came over to sit by Anna, across from Duke. He eyed his baby sister and she felt herself shrink under his gaze.

"So, what's your story?" Canard asked, turning his attention towards Duke. Duke cleared his throat, taking a sip of coffee.

"Not much to tell." he tried. Anna sighed. She wasn't sure why she thought Duke would all of a sudden open up to her brother, but a girl could hope.

"Come on, there's gotta be something." Canard tried, "I mean, how did you end up in that parking lot?" he asked.

Duke looked to be contemplating whether or not to answer. He wasn't, he was just trying to figure out how much he could get away with saying, without giving everything away.

"I followed Falcone there. For some reason, I could just sense he was up to no good." Duke explained, telling the honest truth.

"Falcone..." Canard seemed to be thinking of his next question. "How'd you know him?"

"We uh..." Duke trailed off, realizing he hadn't thought about what to say before he spoke. "we got some training in the same class." he tried to keep it brief.

"Which class?" Canard was relentless.

"It was... I guess it was mostly a saber class. Defense and offense, and then some hand to hand combat and then some other stuff." Once again he hadn't lied. Granted, he hadn't told the whole truth either. That other stuff, which was basically enhancing thievery skills, was the main part of said "class". It wasn't necessarily a class either. He and Falcone were just in the same age group, so they would train against each other, practicing their skills on each other... to see more where they ranked in the hood, more so than get a grade. So, he might have stretched the truth a little bit, so what?

"Anna takes a class like that!" Canard exclaimed.

"well, that explains a lot," Duke smirked, raising an eyebrow at Anna.

"Maybe you guys are in the same class and never even noticed." Canard tried. Duke let out a chuckle.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure we're not in the same class." he tried.

"And why do you say that?" Anna suddenly demanded, "what, just because I'm younger than you, I can't be the same level?" she accused. Duke's chuckle sobered.

"I didn't say that, sweetheart. Falcone and I were trained privately," he explained. Anna blushed, realizing she had jumped the gun.

"Anyways, I've been out all night. Probably oughta head for home." Duke announced, finding the perfect moment to cut into Canard's probing to get the hell out of there. He stood up, taking care of his cup. He thanked Canard for the coffee and party and started towards the door. Anna followed him out, wrapping her coat around her, though her legs were still bare.

She shut the door behind her, and Duke stopped walking. Still facing the other way, he sighed.

"Anna, get back inside," he commanded.

"Not until I get some real answers. Tell me something real. Something that isn't just some half-assed answer to something my brother asked." she tried.

"Sweetheart, I'm getting tired of the probing." he sighed, turning back around.

"Come on, Duke! I saved your feathers and you saved mine. I told you about Trent last night. Now come on. My tail feathers are freezing!" she demanded, shivering. He walked towards her, taking her into his trench coat. She hugged herself around him, and his warmth fell over her.

"Sweetheart, trust me. If you knew who I was, you wouldn't wanna be around me." he tried. "I'm dangerous."

"Please, Duke." she tried, looking up at him. He sighed, trying to escape her pleading gaze.

"L'Orange," he muttered, looking away.

"What? Wait... Duke L'Orange?" she asked, taking a step back, studying him hard.

"You're Duke L'Orange. The famous jewel thief." it wasn't a question. He nodded slowly, still not looking at her. He was surprised when he felt her back in his arms, hugging around him.

"I don't even care, Duke. I really don't." she promised, hugging him tight. He hugged her back and found himself with his chin on her head. He loved this feeling.

"But you see why I'm dangerous, now?" he tried. Honestly, he was scared of the answer. A part of him hoped maybe she could be the one Darren had droned on about. The one that could be willing to change her life for him. One that could love him despite all his flaws. He shook his head.

She looked up at him, and once again they found themselves nearly bill to bill.

"Duke... I already told you I didn't care." Her voice was soft. Anna looked at him for a moment, and he felt her get closer to him. She was leaning up to him and he could feel their beaks almost touching. He didn't pull away. He felt himself gravitating towards her.

"Anna?" as if on cue, Canard was at the door.

"Come on inside, sis. you're going to catch pneumonia!" he exaggerated.

"Yeah, yeah. coming bro," she said, glancing back at Duke.

"I'll see you around?" she asked. he nodded.

"See ya around, sweetheart," he promised. He turned around, hardly believing he had nearly kissed Anna. They had been so close. He shook his head. He couldn't let that happen again. She had a boyfriend, granted a shitty one, and he had no life for her to live. She said she didn't care but deep down, he knew he couldn't subject her to such a lifestyle.

Anna watched him leave for a moment before turning and walking back into the house. She shut the door and leaned against it. It took a second to realize that Canard was staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"I saw that," he informed. Anna just shrugged, heading for the stairs. He grabbed her arm, turning her back around.

"Hold on, kiddo. We need to talk about last night," Canard insisted.

"Last night?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Trent hit you last night," he dragged out, tilting his head at her.

"Yeah, but he'd been drinking," she tried.

"Are you really going to defend him like that?" he asked.

"People do stupid stuff when they're drunk," she stated simply.

"He hit you, Anna! He hit my baby sister!" Canard sighed, "you've got a decision to make. I mean, do you really want to go out with someone like that? Someone who can't control his anger when he's drinking?"

"Canard butt out! It's my life. Mine! Who I go out with is my business, whether it be Trent or anybody else. It's MY decision!" she glared at him, "I let you be with whoever the hell you want, and I don't say shit about it!" she snapped.

"Yeah, but Kim doesn't hit me after a couple of beers," he rolled his eyes at her.

"Canard drop it! If I want to break up with Trent, I will, but it'll be on my own terms. Mine! It won't be because my big brother told me to. It will be MY decision!" she snapped, turning back to the stairs.

"Don't you walk away from me, young lady!" Canard snapped.

"Don't!" she glared, turning back, "don't even think about acting like Dad. You're not dad! You're not even half the man he was!" she glared, tears brimming her eyes.

"Is that what you want? To pick a fight and storm off on me? Don't forget to tell me you hate me, Anna!" he snapped back at her, "Maybe I'll go on a walk and get myself killed. Then, in your eyes, I'll finally live up to dad's name!"

She reached back and slapped him across the face as the final words fell out of his mouth.

"I love you, fathead! But I don't have to like you right now," she sniffed, storming off up the stairs.

A cough was heard from the living room and Canard turned to see that the entire party had woken up at some point during their spat and were all staring at him.

"Alright, show's over." Canard muttered, running up the stairs.

* * *

"That could have gone better," Wildwing said, walking into Canard's room. Canard was sitting on his bed. Kim was sitting with her knees on the bed, slightly behind Canard and rubbing his shoulders. She glanced up at Wing and smiled.

"I'm gonna go get ready for tonight," she said, moving to the edge of the bed. She leaned into Canard and kissed him quickly before standing up. She smiled at Wildwing as she moved past him. Wildwing smiled back, nodding.

"Wildwing, I don't need a lecture. I know," Canard leaned back on his bed.

"Do you?" Wildwing asked.

"I heard it the minute it came out of my mouth. I just got pissed, and it came out." He admitted with a shrug as Wildwing sat down on the bed next to him.

"She's right, you know." Wildwing murmured. Canard looked at Wildwing with a surprised look.

"Maybe she's not right to still be claiming Trent. Hell, we don't even know what her plans are. If she'll actually stay with him or not. But that is HER decision," Wildwing tried.

"My father would never-"

"and she's right about that, too." Wildwing cut in, "You're not Pochard. It doesn't matter if your dad would put up with this bullshit or not. You're her brother, not her father. And right now, she needs her brother," Wildwing tried.

Canard sighed out, staring ahead.

"You're right," Canard muttered. Wildwing smirked.

"aren't I always?"


	11. The Invasion Begins

Canard walked down the stairs, wearing slacks and a nice dress shirt.

"Where are you heading off to?" Chloe asked.

"Military Christmas Party." Canard reminded.

"That's right, I almost forgot." she murmured. "You know, back in my day, they never had military Christmas parties." she tried.

"Yeah, but that's because y'all were at war all the time. Our generation is a peaceful one." he said simply, straightening his jacket.

"Yeah, or we made the world a peaceful place for your generation." Chloe muttered, messing with his hair.

"Ma!" he protested, jerking away.

"I'm sorry, Canard. You know how I am." she argued.

"I know, Mom." he said, pulling her into a hug.

Anna walked down the stairs then. She shoved past Canard, shouldering him hard as she headed for the couch.

"You know, I still have written down that I'm bringing a +1..." Canard tried as she plopped down. She ignored him, lifting the remote high above her head to exaggerate turning on the TV. He sighed out, looking back at his mom.

"Give it time. She'll come around." Chloe promised.

"I hope so," he murmured. Chloe's eyebrows creased. She'd never seen her kids fight like this. They were always so close.

"Love you, mom." He said, reaching down and hugging her.

"I love you too, sweetie." She said, gripping him tight.

"I love you too, sis!" he called. He was met with silence and he sighed.

"I'll save you a spot in case you change your mind," he muttered to the couch before closing the door behind him.

Chloe sighed out, glancing back at the couch.

"Sweetie?" Anna glanced up as Chloe made her way over.

"You know, you can't stay mad at him forever." Chloe tried, sitting on the couch at Anna's feet.

"I won't. I'm waiting to see how next week goes." she muttered, crossing her arms.

"Just don't let this tear you guys apart. You both are stronger than this. Promise me you two will make up." Chloe pleaded. Anna looked distant.

"I'll try." she finally said, and it was enough for Chloe to head back into the kitchen to get some dinner going for the pair.

* * *

Canard made his way through the group of ducks. His eyes searched the crowd for Kim. Everyone had come in their best clothes. All the men wore anything from slacks to tuxedos while the girls all wore formal gowns.

He searched the crowd, finally coming across Roger and Tim.

"Looking for our sister?" Roger asked, seeing right through Canard. Canard gave a sheepish grin before nodding.

"Yeah, have you seen her?" he asked. Tim pointed, and Canard saw Kim appear through the crowd.

She wore a long baby blue off the shoulder gown, accented around the waste with a silver leaf looking pattern. Her blue eyes met his, and he smiled, walking over. He bowed, and she curtsied. He reached out his arm, and she laced her arm through his as he led her to the dance floor.

"You look gorgeous." he commented as they fell into a waltz.

"You don't look too shabby yourself." she added, smirking.

"Where's your sister?" she asked.

"She uh-" Canard looked down. Kim's eyebrows creased with worry.

"I'm sorry, Can. I wish you guys weren't fighting." Kim tried to be supportive.

"You and I both, Kimmy." Canard muttered

"Has she even talked to you since the fight?" Kim asked. Canard shook his head.

"Unfortunately. It's nothing big we're fighting over though. She's just making a bigger deal out of it than it really is. It'll pass." he promised, twirling Kim out and then back into his body.

"I hope so." Kim said, looking genuinely concerned. "I don't think I've ever seen you guys fight like this before." she mentioned.

"We've never fought like this before." he confirmed, "we've had little spats, but nothing that issued a silent treatment that lasted more than a couple of hours." he added.

The song ended and they stopped dancing long enough to clap.

Just then, the ground shook beneath them and all the ducks looked genuinely surprised. Canard glanced over to the buffet table where General McMallard stood. The general met his gaze.

"What the hell was that?" Henry exclaimed, running up.

"I'm not sure." Canard admitted. The general motioned for him to follow as they exited the mess hall. Many of the ducks saw this and followed.

A bang was heard, as the ground shook again.

"I don't like this." Kim said, grabbing Canard's hand.

"Is it a quake?" Tim asked, coming to stand by his sister.

"Can't be. It doesn't have the right pattern." Henry inquired.

At that moment, a huge ship flew over them, morphing into a walking giant.

"Oh shit!" Canard growled, taken by surprise.

"Time for a quick change, ducks!" the general commanded, his voice bellowing loud enough to be heard inside the mess hall for the ducks that had decided better on coming out. In a flash of orange light, the formal wear was gone and was instantly replaced by military armor and gear.

They were all still as the machine stomped around.

"What is it?" Roger asked from his spot.

"Is it Raptrin?" Henry asked, cocking his head at it. Canard shook his head no.

"It looks... This is going to sound crazy, but it looks like a saurian monitor tower." Canard explained. The general whipped his head back around at him.

"I hate to say it, but I was thinking the same thing, Lieutenant." The general confirmed.

"The saurians?" Tim asked with wide eyes. The rest of the ducks around them started whispering amongst themselves too. The saurians, up to this point, had just been a scary bedtime story. They vanished centuries ago. So, what the hell was going on?!

Suddenly, the head of the monitor tower whipped around in their direction, and they froze. It raised its arms to reveal blasters. Canard heard them heat up.

"Ducks! Get out of there, now!" he yelled into the mess hall. Everyone around him scattered as the ducks ran to get out. Fireballs flew out of the blasters and Canard took Kim down with him as the mess hall blew up.

Canard looked up once the dust cleared.

"To the aerowings!" the general commanded as ducks entered the vehicles 6 at a time. Canard started up the engines. Kim took co-pilot, Tim and Roger were on blasters, Henry was on radio and Mary, a duck with tan feathers and fiery red hair, had joined them and was the navigator.

"Corporal, what are you seeing? How many of these things are there?" Canard asked Mary once they were up in the air. He could already see 5 from where he was, destroying the city. She tapped at the computer in front of her a little bit.

"Canard, I- I don't like this..." she admitted, seeing the number of hostile dots that had appeared on her screen.

"How many!" he demanded, going down so Tim could get a shot on his side.

"They're all over the planet, Canard." Mary said, looking up at him. His face fell as he realized Tim's shots on this thing had no effect on it.

"How's south side doing?" he barked, flying back around to try and get another shot at it.

"Not good. They're grounded." Henry informed as he listened over the radio. "They say the aerowings were the first thing the saurians took out. Guess they don't want these ducks flying anytime soon." Henry partly joked. Canard shook his head, out of ideas. He saw aerowings around him getting shot down and thought quickly.

"patch me through to the general." Canard ordered, and Henry pressed some buttons on his end as Canard put his headset on.

"Sir?" Canard asked.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" came the response.

"I don't think the aerowings are doing any damage. We're getting taken down up here. I don't think we can keep attacking by air. Permission to land?" he asked.

"No, Thunderbeak. Permission to hide. East side came through about 10 seconds before you called me. Their aerowings have all been destroyed. We need to save as many aerowings as we can." Canard heard a click and knew the general had opened multiple lines. He switched his headset over to speakers.

"Everyone in the sky, follow Lieutenant Thunderbeak to the Fallback base. We need to save as many aerowings as we can."

With that, Canard kicked it into high gear. The monitor tower, for some reason, sensed their retreat and followed. Their first programmed mission must have been to destroy all aerowings.

"Lieutenant!" came a cry through the speaker and they heard an explosion to the left of the ship that shook it.

"Oh god." Mary muttered, seeing friendlies getting fired upon.

"Squad 5 and 9 are down." she informed, tapping into her system a little more.

"We got a monitor tower right on our tail and he doesn't look too friendly!" she added.

"I'll shake him!" Canard promised, suddenly flipping the aerowing upside down.

"Oh god, I think I'm gonna be sick!" Roger muttered, making a gagging noise.

"Hold on! I've got an idea." Canard said, flipping the aerowing back upright. They were now headed North. Kim narrowed her eyes at Canard.

"Wait, we're headed for..."

"Multnoma cliffs." Canard said with a grin. A blast flew past them and the ship jerked.

"I hope we make it!" Tim cried from his seat.

"Tim, we've got one of the main characters on this ship, I think we're gonna be just fine." Roger muttered, rolling his eyes.

The monitor tower did just as Canard planned. It was barreling towards them and fell right off the cliff.

The team started cheering but Canard stopped them.

"No reason to cheer yet." Canard muttered, looking out his windshield. Tons of the same monitor towers were walking around, blasting the city to bits. He sighed, glancing around at everyone.

"Come on, let's get the aerowing hidden."


	12. The Invasion Begins: pt 2

Duke partly rolled, partly fell out of bed.

"So much for a nap." he muttered, getting up off the floor. What the hell had woken him up? Then he heard it. Another loud boom, and dirt fell from the ceiling.

He stood up quick, pulling on his gear. He was out the door in under a minute.

"Yo, Darren!" he called, seeing his best friend heading towards him. Darren's green eyes were filled with worry. The thieves guild was completely quiet. Another boom sounded above them, and Duke glanced back at Darren.

"Could it be the law? Did they find us?" Darren partly whispered.

"Nah, that doesn't sound like commotion from a police force breaking their way in. It sounds like bombs." Duke speculated. His eyes then widened.

"Darren, where are Mia and Aiden!?" he suddenly asked.

"Right here, Duke." Duke turned to see Aiden and Mia making their way through the crowd, and he sighed with relief. Mia grabbed onto her brother while Aiden just took his spot at Duke's side.

"What's going on up there?" Mia partly whispered.

"I don't know..." Duke trailed off, letting go of her. "But I'm about to find out." he said, walking towards the door to their base. She grabbed onto his arm with a vice grip.

"Duke, no!" she said sternly, giving him a "mom" look.

"Mia, let go." he warned.

"No! What if you die up there!" she demanded, a hard look crossing her eyes.

Darren and Aiden stood behind her, watching the dispute.

"I won't." he promised, "besides, there's somebody up there I need to check on." he met Darren's gaze, and Darren instantly knew who he was talking about.

"Mia." Darren tried, grabbing her shoulders gently. She jerked away.

"Somebody more important than your baby sister?" she asked, trying to guilt trip him.

"I already know my baby sister is safe." he explained, "I just gotta make sure one more duck is accounted for. I'll be back before you know it, Mia. I promise." he said, kissing the top of her head before dashing off towards the entrance.

* * *

After dinner, Chloe went to the kitchen to get dishes done while Anna switched off the TV and picked up her book. Chloe, needing some sort of noise in the house, had flipped on the radio in the kitchen while she did dishes. She was humming along until static broke through her song. She frowned, turning the tuner knob slightly both ways to see if she could get her song back on. She sighed in utter defeat when nothing came through. She flipped the radio off.

"Anna, sweetie. Could you turn the TV on? I've gotta have some sort of noise." Chloe called.

Without looking away from her book, Anna obliged, flipping on the TV all while never looking up.

"We still don't know what they are, or where they came from..." came a voice from the TV. "They landed just barely even twenty minutes ago, and already city blocks upon city blocks have been destroyed."

"Ooh, sounds like a sci-fi thriller!" Chloe called, trying to make conversation with her daughter. Anna read for a moment, finishing her sentence before glancing up at the TV. She looked back down to her book before her eyes went wide, looking back up. She set her book down slowly and stood up, realizing she was on the News Channel.

"If you're just tuning in with us, please seek shelter as we don't know what these things are yet, but know they seem bent on destroying everything in their path."

"Um, mom?" Anna heard a distant boom and the house shook.

"Was that a quake?" Chloe asked from her spot in the kitchen, still oblivious to what her daughter had just found out.

"We will stay on the air as long as we can." said the news woman, and at that moment Anna heard a whistling sound.

"Mom, get down!" she called as she ducked beneath the coffee table. An explosion shook the house and Anna screamed as the house exploded into pieces around her. Debris hit the coffee table and she found herself hoping the table would hold up. Once she was sure the dust had settled, she heard something that sounded like a huge blender getting started up, and then stopping. Started up, and then stopping over and over again. She dug her way out from beneath the table, heading towards a slit in the pile of broken wood that had surrounded her. As she moved, she felt a sharp pain in her ankle, but she ignored it. She looked through to see a giant red machine walking through the streets. The sound she'd been hearing was the machine's gears moving it forward through the city. She felt herself freeze, scared that if the thing saw the wood she was under move, that it would turn back for her. She waited until it was out of sight before digging her way out of the pile. She went to stand, but almost instantly fell back down as a screaming pain shot through her ankle.

"Dammit!" she gritted her teeth, falling back on her butt and grabbing at her right ankle. She pulled her sock and shoe off, examining an already swollen ankle. _god, I hope it's not broken. _she muttered, slipping the sock back on. She tried to put her shoe back on, but found it too painful as tears stung her eyes. She held the shoe and began crawling her way to the kitchen, figuring she'd get there faster that way.

"Mom?" she called out, digging through the debris.

"Mom!" she screamed, digging more frantically.

Her hand fell across feathers and her heart started pounding faster as she dug the splintered boards away from her mom's hand. She grabbed onto her hand, feeling tears form in her eyes. One ran down her cheek as she realized her mom wasn't squeezing her hand back.

"Mom?" she asked softly, feeling the sobs trying to break through. She dug deeper, pulling the debris back until she saw her mom. Her mom's eyes were partially open, staring at nothing.

"Mom?" she tried, but Chloe never reacted.

"Mom!" it was a demand now, commanding Chloe to wake up. She never budged. Anna saw that a piece of a destroyed 2x4 had ripped through her mother's abdomen.

"Mom, no!" she tried, pulling Chloe out of the wreckage the best she could. She put her fingers against her mom's wrist. No pulse. She then moved them up against her neck. Again, nothing.

She got her mother laying flat before hovering over her. She placed her hands over the top of each other and over Chloe's sternum.

"Come on, mom. Come on," she begged as she began giving CPR. Deep down, she knew it was hopeless. But she had to try.

* * *

"Oh no..." Duke felt his heart fall as he took off running for what used to be the Thunderbeak house.

"Anna!" he called out as he ran up on a piece of the roof.

"Anna!" he bellowed again before he heard sniffling. He rounded a pile of debris to see Anna hovering over a pile of broken boards.

"Anna?" he asked, walking towards her carefully. "Sweetheart, are you alright?" he asked. He got closer and realized Anna was pressing down rapidly on something. It looked like she was performing CPR. He saw light brown feathers and he stopped, realizing it was Chloe.

"Oh no." he breathed out, kneeling down beside Anna. He tried to pull her to him, but she ripped back.

"No! No, I'll bring her back. I have to bring her back!" she growled at him before the sobs came. His presence there seemed to make her realize there was no hope and she collapsed, crying over her mother's body.

He picked her up from where she lay and pulled her into his arms. She gritted her teeth in pain, but then fell against his chest, bawling.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." Duke consoled, brushing her mane gently out of her tear streaked face.

"Anna!" another voice was heard, and Duke recognized it to be Trent.

"Why? First Dad, and now Mom..." a sob interrupted Anna's outburst, "this... this isn't fair!" she screamed as Trent rounded the corner.

"Anna, what-" he cut himself off as he saw Chloe's body lying in the wreckage.

"Oh baby..." he said, kneeling down next to Duke. Anna shifted from Duke to Trent and Trent held her close to him. As Anna cried into Trent's chest, Duke stood up, walking around the wreckage, glancing around. He looked back down to the younger ducks, and Trent met his gaze. Duke half expected Trent to glare or do something crazy considering the last way he had reacted when another drake had touched his girl. But there was a grateful look in his eyes as he mouthed _thank-you_ to Duke. Duke just nodded. He let them sit like that for a moment before he heard stomping in the distance.

"Come on, we can't stay here." Duke finally tried. Trent and Anna remained immobile for a moment, but as the stomping got closer, Trent came to his senses. He cleared his throat, shifting Anna in his arms.

"He's right, Anna. We gotta go." he said, helping the distraught girl to her feet. Her right leg seemed to give out on her, but Trent caught her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, gripping her tightly so she wouldn't fall.

"Trent, it's my ankle. I can't walk on it." she explained. His eyes went wide at her as the stomping was now practically on top of them.

Duke picked Anna up bridal style, running for a nearby Alley. The buildings had been destroyed, but the walls still stood high enough to hide behind. The machine marched by and Duke set Anna back down, slowly so she could prepare herself to stand just on the one leg.

"Anna, where's Canard?" Trent asked.

"Canard?" Anna seemed dazed for a moment, almost like she didn't know anyone by such a name. "he's... he's at the military Christmas party." she breathed in, holding back the sob that threatened, "he's… he's at the military base," her eyes widened as she realized what that might mean as the sound of engines grew closer and an aerowing crashed into a nearby building.

"Alright, we'll start there." Trent glanced over at Duke, "come on."

"now, hold on a second." he said.

"What?" Anna asked, looking hard at him. she sensed his hesitation, "you're coming, right?"

"That military base is going to be hell, Anna." He argued, "look around you!" he spread his arms out, showing the destruction that had already happened to the city, "he's up in the air, fighting this. Or, or he's down on the ground, fighting this."

"What even is this, Duke!" she growled at him. Duke sighed out, shaking his head.

"I don't know, Anna. But whatever it is, our military forces will be dealing with it, and dealing with it heavily. Your brother will be dealing with it, heavily." He emphasized. Anna's eyes were wide.

"That's why I need to get to that base. I need to make sure he's still alive and help if I can." She tried.

"that's suicide!" he argued.

"I don't care!" she snapped, "I can't even emphasize how much I don't care right now!" she growled. "My father and mother are dead, Duke! Canard is all I have left. He's all I have left so if he's dead, then I could give a shit less if this is a suicide mission! I'm heading toward the only place I know where I might have family that is still alive!" she snapped at him.

He sighed.

"Well, then good luck." He said, extending a hand.

"You still won't come." She sniffed, angrily glancing away from him.

"I promised my sister I'd be back as soon as possible," he smirked at her, and she glanced at him with wide eyes.

"You have a sister?" she asked.

"There, now you know something about me," he smirked, going to walk away.

"Wait!" she held out her hand and nearly fell on her bad ankle, but he turned fast and caught her.

"What if things get bad. How will I know you're alright? How will I find you?" she asked.

"Corner of Higgins and South. There's a warehouse. Once inside, there's a trapdoor pretty well hidden in the back-left corner," he explained briefly.

"Trapdoor. Back left. Got it," she nodded, memorizing the location. She glared up at him for a second before a smile crossed her face. She fell into him, hugging him. Duke glanced over, seeing Trent had turned to look away, though there was an obvious glare on his face.

"I WILL see you again," she promised, pulling out of the hug and just holding onto his arms. She stared up at him, memorizing the features of his face, never wanting to forget him.

"Alright, Anna. Let's move!" Trent partially ordered, walking over and draping her arm over his shoulders.

"Don't die!" Anna ordered as she and Trent disappeared around the corner.

"Hey, that goes both ways!" Duke hollered back. He watched them disappear around the corner. He desperately wanted to go with them. With her. Make sure she'd be alright. She was a survivor. She'd make it. He had to tell himself she'd be okay.


	13. O Brother, where art thou?

A peach/tan colored duck made her way through the city. Her light purple mane fell loosely down her back and she jumped over a broken wall, rolling before standing up and running again.

Had she deserted her Squad? Probably... but they were goners anyways, and she was a survivor.

She crossed through what used to be Downtown but stopped as one of the fuzzy pictured jumbo trons switched on. On the screen appeared... she couldn't believe it, but a living, breathing saurian. His complexion was red, and he wore blue robes.

"Ducks of Puckworld!" his voice echoed around city square...

* * *

"Um, general?" A young black-haired duck had been sitting at the radio. General McMallard walked over, "you're gonna wanna hear this..." she said, switching the knobs to speaker mode.

"Hundreds of years ago, my ancestors were banished to Dimensional Limbo by one, Drake Ducaine. Now, I, Lord Dragaunus, have returned to exact my revenge! There's nowhere you can run that I won't find you! Now, ducks, your planet belongs to me!" the saurian chuckled menacingly as the screen went fuzzy once more. Everyone who had been in the square began running around in terror. Suddenly, on the corner of the street, Hunter drones appeared everywhere.

The hunter drones began firing warning shots before capturing the ducks that had been in the square. All of the ducks were kneeling with their hands behind their heads.

In a flash of green, an orange saurian appeared before them.

"Oh, yeah! Dragaunus is gonna be happy once he sees how many ducks, I've got for his first... enslavement camp!" he growled towards the group. the purple maned duck stood up. The hunter drones moved to fire on her.

"Wait!" she shrieked. The saurian raised his hand, stopping the drones.

"What do you want?" he asked with a sneer.

"I was just going to let you know that if you lock me up, you'll never conquer this planet to its full benefits." she tried.

"What are you getting at?"

"Well, you want to conquer the planet... I want to survive. Help me, help you to help me!" she tried.

"Yeah right, and what could a duck offer a saurian..." the orange one trailed off.

"I know where the East side military base is." she promised. Ducks on their knees in the circle started cursing at her.

"You lousy traitor!" came just one of the calls from the group.

"Shut up! Web footed wimps!" he growled at them before turning back to the female duck. He rubbed his chin, seeming to be in thought.

"Come with me." he said, grabbing onto her. Green light encircled her and suddenly she was standing in an almost red room.

"Siege, what is the meaning of this!" came a growl and the saurian from TV, Dragaunus, stepped into view. Siege grabbed her arm, shoving her towards him.

"This duck said she wants to help us." Siege explained.

"Really... why?" Dragaunus asked, looking intrigued.

"Look at this planet. It's all but already taken over. I know what the winning side looks like." Dragaunus looked amused at this.

"And what kind of services, exactly, can you offer?"

* * *

"Come on, we gotta hurry." rushed Anna once the TV changed back to static. They happened to be passing a television store when Dragaunus' speech came on. As the message went off the air, hunter drones began marching the streets.

"Let's move!" she hurried as they partly jogged, partly limped away. They carried on like that for a little while before Anna stopped, reaching for her injured ankle.

"I can't..." she sighed out as Trent sat her against the wall to an alley.

"Come on, Annie. We've got to. I bet your brother's waiting for us right now!" he tried.

"Trent, I can't hardly walk! There's no way we're going to get through these streets without being seen!" she insisted, looking away from him. That's when she saw it.

"Anna, we-"

"look." she cut him off, pointing at the sewer lid that lay just ten feet away.

"Come on..." she said, partly crawling over to it.

"Annie, what-"

"This is how we avoid detection." she promised, scooting the lid off. Trent looked like he would protest, but the sound of hunter drones marching nearby drove him to help her down into the sewers.

* * *

Duke ran down an alley after hearing the broadcast. Hunter drones were closing in behind him. He fired a grappling hook and ended up on the roof, and away from the hunter drones.

"Holy shit," he murmured, looking out over the city. The monitor towers were everywhere. There were no aerowings in the sky, meaning the army had had to pull back, or they had all been destroyed. Possibly a combination of both.

"Duke?" Duke turned, seeing Jess was running across rooftops with Jake.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" he asked instantly.

"there… there are robot thingys down there," Jake explained, pointing towards the ground and sounding out of breath.

"We can't find mom. She's nowhere to be seen," Jess explained. Another explosion and Duke shuddered, holding out his hand,

"Come on, you guys will be safe at the warehouse," he said, motioning them back down to the ground.

"The warehouse?" she asked.

"It's more of a lair. Now come on!" he ushered as they ran through the streets.

* * *

Canard and his team made their way through the sewers. His flashlight bounced around the walls.

"Hold up!" he commanded in a whisper, holding his arm out so everyone would stop walking. The ducks sensed his seriousness and went deathly quiet.

"Wait, why do you have a flashlight?" they heard a female voice.

"I got it out of my nightstand, along with a lighter, a pocketknife, and gum." came the male response.

"Wait, you've had gum this whole time!" the female pouted.

"Hold it!" Canard jumped around the corner the voices were coming from, his gun pointed out in front of him.

His eyes went wide, seeing it was his sister. She had blood all down the front of her shirt and covering her arms and hands. He lowered his weapon and Anna let go of Trent, partly limping to her brother. She about lost her footing as she reached him. He caught her, pulling her into a huge hug.

She almost started crying instantly and it made him pull her tighter, wanting to fix whatever was bothering his baby sister.

"Sh, sh. it's alright." he soothed, brushing her mane. Why was she crying so hard? Was it because she was hurt? She was covered in blood and had been limping.

"Anna, what happened? Where are you hurt?" he asked, holding her out to look at her.

"Canard, it's mom..." she trailed off, throwing herself back into his arms.

"What?" he asked, knowing her despair was real. He looked over to Trent.

"I'm sorry, Canard." was all he said, but he sounded so distant.

"Anna, it's... I mean, it can't be true..." he tried.

"Canard, I..." she shook her head, tears running down her face. "I tried… I performed CPR… There was nothing I could do... she... she's gone." Anna partly sobbed while trying to explain what happened.

Canard sniffed as he realized, now, why his baby sister was covered in blood. It was their mother's blood.

"Canard?" he heard Henry behind him, and he felt the tears start to come. He tried to hold them back as he turned to look at his friend.

"Are you alright?" Henry asked. Canard hugged Anna tighter and just nodded, a few stray tears falling on his cheeks. He was embarrassed. His team couldn't see him cry!

Henry walked forward, hugging around both Canard and Anna. "I'm sorry, guys. This sucks. It all sucks."

"We're gonna stop these saurians, anyway we can." Canard's determined look scared Henry. Canard was pissed, and he was going to get his revenge.


	14. A Traitor Strikes

The wild-haired blond tapped away ferociously at a screen.

"What have you got, Vanderflock?" she turned to look at Colonel RedIce who walked up behind her.

"Not good, Colonel. I've been working on, uh, analyzing the monitor towers for weaknesses but so far, I'm not getting anywhere," she admitted, sliding her chair back. It had been a week now since the monitors attacked and thus far, the military had been driven underground. All their vehicles had been destroyed, Aerowings and Migrators alike. She had heard the Westside base had successfully hidden one aerowing but bringing it out now would almost guarantee its destruction.

"Oh, thank god!" Both ducks turned their heads towards the door where a purple-haired duck came stumbling in.

"State your name," RedIce ordered, though he knew she belonged to the military. She wore the insignia and how else could she have known the security code.

"Corporal Lucretia Decoy." she saluted.

"At ease, Corporal. What happened?" he asked, seeing she had been through a lot.

"A week ago, when the attacks first started, my Squad and I were above. I got separated from them. While I was up there, one of the jumbotrons came on. Sir, it's the saurians. They've returned." Lucretia reported.

"We know," RedIce confirmed. "We've had Tanya analyzing the monitor towers since they landed."

"Any luck?" Lucretia asked. he shook his head.

"Nothing yet," he admitted. The radio beeped and Tanya put one of the headphones up to her ear.

"Um, Colonel?" she trailed off, "we've got another broadcast from Dragaunus," she informed. He nodded, and she flipped the switch to take them to speakers.

"New orders, boys. You're going to Fern Gully-" Tanya switched it back off, "whoops. Wrong channel." she sheepishly switched the channels with a small giggle.

"As you retched ducks may have seen by now, resistance is futile. Surrender yourselves now or perish!"

Tanya gave the captain a look.

"What do we do?" she asked him.

"We stand our ground. I think this saurian will soon find out; we ducks won't be taken down so easily."

* * *

_A few days later_

"We're being taken down so easily!" came a random cry as explosions rocked the base. Tanya ran over to Colonel RedIce, helping him up from where he had fallen.

"Come on, we've gotta evacuate!" he called, running for the tunnels. Before they could get there, the tunnel collapsed.

"We have to go up top!" he commanded, and all the ducks that heard him headed for the stairs. They burst out of the base as it collapsed on itself. RedIce looked around at the ducks that had made it out. 20 ducks, maybe. He sighed before he realized hunter drones were closing in on them.

"Scatter! We'll meet back up at the park!" he ordered as the ducks spread out.

The ducks all took off, running from the hunter drones that gave chase.

Tanya took off, instantly ducking into an alley behind a dumpster. The hunter drones marched past the alleyway and she waited until the marching sounded distant before ducking back out and taking off for the park.

Once she got to the park, it didn't take long for the Colonel and about 8 other ducks to join her.

"Is this all that's left?" RedIce asked, glancing around. Everyone looked around and he sighed out.

"Alright... Tanya, take these 4. I'll take these 4 and meet you at the Westside base. You remember how to get there?" he asked her. Tanya nodded, accepting the responsibility placed upon her.

"I don't know how to get there," Lucretia spoke up.

"It's alright, you'll be with me. Let's move team," he ordered as his team and Tanya's team took off in different directions. He missed the glare that Lucretia had given him.

* * *

Tanya led the way through the streets.

"Hey, Tanya?" one of the younger ducks, Jerry, joined her in the front.

"What is it, Russell?" she asked, calling him by his last name. She was still staring intently at her omnitool.

"Are we gonna make it?" he asked. She looked up and saw the fear in his eyes. She gave him a smile.

"Of course, Jerry. Especially after we take out whatever is blocking our comms," she added.

"Wait, what?" he asked.

"Well, I've been trying to home in on the signal of whatever has been blocking our communications, so we don't have to rely specifically on the radios anymore. I planned on looking for it once we got to the base, but I checked my GPS when we first left and realized it was only a few blocks of a detour from the base," she explained.

"Okay?" Jerry was confused.

"Up there." Tanya stopped, pointing to a skyscraper. She turned to the group and explained exactly what they were going to do.

RedIce grunted as he hit the ground. His group was kneeling with their hands behind their heads. All except for one.

"Good work, for a duck." the orange lizard sneered at Lucretia.

"Oh thanks, Siege darling," she muttered, glancing back down at the Colonel.

"Now, where do I find the Westside base?" she demanded.

"Like I'd tell a filthy traitor like you." he spat. She pulled her leg back, kicking him in the face. He grunted against the pain but remained glaring at her.

"I won't ask again," she said, pulling out her gun and cocking it.

"You might as well kill me if you're going to do it." She pulled her gun back, slapping it across his face. He grunted as he fell back. Suddenly, a beeping was heard coming from his wrist.

"What is that!" Siege demanded to know.

"It's his communicator... Looks like Tanya's been busy." Lucretia muttered, taking the comm off his wrist.

"Tanya..." RedIce muttered helplessly from where he lay.

"Here, hit me," Lucretia said. Siege hesitated for a moment. "Do it!" she growled. He shrugged, pulling back and punching her. Almost instantly, the feathers around her eye turned red.

"Damn, that hurt!" she commented.

"You asked for it." Siege muttered with a smirk. She glared at him while getting her hands in the dirt on the ground and running them through her hair, messing it all up.

"Keep them quiet!" she ordered, walking far enough away from the group and opening the comm.

"Tanya?" she asked, her tone changing almost instantly.

"Lucretia? What's going on?" Tanya seemed genuinely surprised that Lucretia had answered the comm, as well she should.

"The colonel... everyone's been..." Lucretia trailed off, holding back fake tears.

"Calm down, Lucretia. Are you the only one left?" Tanya asked. Lucretia nodded.

"I hid... I hid like a coward! I feel so ashamed!" Lucretia cried.

"It's alright, Lucretia. Don't beat yourself up. Just get to West Side. Do you know how?" Lucretia shook her head no. Tanya recited directions before hanging up on her end.

"And that's how it's done," Lucretia smirked, walking over and throwing the com on the ground, stepping on it to destroy it.

"Alright, girl! Let's go destroy another base!" Siege was ready to rock and roll, throwing a fist in the air.

"Negative. If you wanna find the South base, I need to get to West Side and gain their trust. Be patient. Soon enough the military won't even exist."


	15. Communications restored

"We've lost east side!" Mary announced from her spot. Henry stood up from where he was sitting and began pacing back and forth.

"Henry, what's going on." Canard said, grabbing his friend by the shoulders to stop him from pacing. Anna still sat at the table, watching the ducks.

"It's Tanya... she reported something weird going on and then I lost connection with her. That was about fifteen minutes ago. Something's not right." he rushed.

"Hold on, Vanderflock." Both ducks were surprised when the general walked in.

"But my sister-"

"Knows the risks as do we all. Don't worry, Vanderflock. I will send a team over to check on East side, but we're not going to rush in blind." the general explained.

"I don't know, General. Smells like a trap to draw us out." Canard commented.

"I don't care. My sister's over there." Henry intervened. The radio was on speaker, and they heard a voice break through.

"Henry? Mary?"

"Gerald? We're here, what's going on?" Mary asked, tapping some buttons prior to making the connection.

"Oh good, I thought maybe something was wrong with our radio. We lost connection with East side." Gerald reported.

"So, did we." Henry admitted.

"Dammit. What's the plan. We can't just leave them over there with no communications like... uh, well, sitting ducks." Gerald didn't want to make the pun, but it was the only thing that was coming to mind at the moment.

"We'll keep you posted once we come up with a plan." Henry said, switching off his mic. He turned back to the general, an expectant look on his face.

"I don't think their end should do anything, honestly." The general admitted after a moment, "it'd be too risky to send so many ducks over for just an observation and possible rescue mission."

"Thunderbeak?" he turned his attention to Canard. Anna's eyes widened when she saw the general address her brother, "can I count on you to lead this mission?"

"Yes, sir." Canard promised. The general smiled.

"Good. Henry, we're going to go over blueprints for their base and decide our best bet in getting to them without being detected ourselves, if something did go wrong and the saurians did find them." the general explained.

"Yes, sir." was all Henry could say.

"Alright. Henry, Canard. I'll let you take two more ducks. Once you decide, we'll head to the briefing room to figure out our plan of action."

"You're not going out there without me!" they all turned with looks of shock to the duck that had remained quiet thus far. Anna was glaring towards her brother.

"Right. Tell me another. You go out there and you'll get yourself killed." the general was blunt.

"I'm not letting him go without me. He's the only family I've got."

"Canard?" McMallard asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

"Sis, look- "

"Don't you dare, Canard!" she pointed a finger at him, sensing his tone of voice.

"I'll be back before you know it, I promise." he tried.

"But-"

Suddenly, Henry's comm started beeping.

"What the hell!" he exclaimed, holding up his wrist to look at his comm. "This thing hasn't worked since the first monitor towers landed."

"Answer it," McMallard ordered. Henry flipped the comm open, and his expression switched from worry to relief.

"Henry!" they heard a voice through the comm.

"Tawny! You're alright!" he exclaimed.

"Well, more or less. Listen. The east side base is destroyed. We had to split up and uh, I think Colonel RedIce's group got attacked. I finally got ahold of a corporal from his group. She's headed your way now." Tanya explained.

"She?" Henry asked, wondering the name.

"Corporal Lucretia Decoy," Tanya informed. "My group is headed your way too. Shouldn't be too long. Thirty minutes tops." she promised.

"Alright. Just hurry." Henry pleaded.

"You got it, Henry," she promised as her comm cut out.

Henry glanced back at the general.

"Well, looks like we don't need your services, after all, Thunderbeak." McMallard was looking at Anna while he said it. "dismissed." the general walked away. Henry went over to let Southside know what happened with Eastside.

"What the hell did you think you were doing!" Canard turned on Anna once the others had left them standing there alone. "Especially with your ankle the way it is!"

It had been determined she had sprained it. It would take at least a couple of weeks to heal and even then, might still end up being tender a little while after that.

"Saving your life, fathead!" she growled, "I can't lose you too!"

"You weren't going to! Believe it or not, I know what I'm doing half the time, Annie!" he got up in her face, "why can't you trust me to make the right decisions?"

"Okay then, change perspectives... General McMallard tells me to go on a mission, but not you. You're now the civilian and I'm the trained military personal. You can't go. What do you do, Canard?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I follow my commanding officer's orders! As would you." he growled at her.

"Yeah, I guess you would," she muttered darkly. She stood up, grabbed her crutches, and limped down the hall.

* * *

Anna sat at a table in the mess hall, drinking some water while sitting next to Trent.

"Anna?" she turned away from the voice. Trent looked worried as Canard walked up to their table.

"Anna, please look at me." he pleaded. She didn't oblige. "I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking." he tried. Anna looked at him, or more so glared up at him.

"Canard, I can't handle it! First dad, then Mom. I couldn't handle it if something happened to you too... I'd never forgive myself." she admitted as tears stung her eyes. He sat down next to her, pulling her into his arms.

"I understand your concern, sis. But I'm trained and trained well. You're a civilian. Don't you think I'd be safer out there without needing to worry about you at the same time?" he tried. She nodded slowly.

"Thunderbeak." McMallard came walking up. Canard stood and saluted.

"Tanya Vanderflock's team and Corporal Decoy have made it back," he announced.

"That's good news, sir." Canard said.

"Yes. Vanderflock and Decoy were going to brief us on their experiences if you cared to join."

"Yeah, sure." Canard said, going to follow the general. "You coming, Annie?" he asked, looking back.

"Can a civilian hear experiences from military personal?" she sneered.

McMallard looked like he might roll his eyes before turning his attention to her, "yes, young Thunderbeak. You may join us in the mess hall. And, if you'd like, I'll make Tim train you once that ankle of yours is healed."

Her eyes went wide at this info as she hopped up and grabbed her crutches.

"Did he just offer what I think he offered?" she asked Canard, a look of hope in her eyes. Canard partly smiled at Anna.

"I think he did. He must see potential in you." he mused as they walked down the hall. The general led them to the front of the briefing room. Everyone from the base was in the room and Canard shuddered, seeing how little their numbers were.

They sat down in the front. Tanya stood there; her hands folded behind her back.

"Go ahead, Tanya," McMallard said, taking a seat. She nodded, taking a step sideways so she was more center.

"I'm not much for public speaking but uh, you know, here it goes." she cleared her throat, "so, the underground tunnel that led here from our base collapsed. We had to travel above ground to get here. There, uh, there are monitor towers everywhere up there. We had to split up into two Sections. Sadly, only one member of the other Section made it." Tanya backed up, giving a duck with purple hair the floor.

_she must be corporal Lucretia decoy._ Anna thought.

"It was terrible," she started, "The saurians have hunter drones roaming the streets. 4 or 5 hunter drones surrounded us. Somehow, I was able to back away from the crowd and hide. Then, an actual saurian appeared. This saurian, he was big and bulky. He asked who the leader of the group was. RedIce stepped forward and the orange one lowered RedIce to his knees before... before shooting him executioner style." Gasps echoed in the room, "the sad part is, RedIce was the lucky one. I heard the saurian command the hunter drones to take the rest of the ducks to a slave camp." Lucretia was barely understood as she started crying. Tanya comforted Lucretia, leading her back to her chair.

"Why are they enslaving us?" Jerry piped up from his spot.

"Still hasn't been determined." The general admitted from his seat.

* * *

"Expand his operation to the whole galaxy?" Nosedive asked.

"That's what I heard the others saying about this guy; Dragaunus." Wildwing whispered from his spot.

"Why would he do that?" Nosedive asked, "I thought Ducaine was the only one to fight back against the saurians. What have any of the other planets done?" Nosedive asked.

"You're missing the point, Dive. He's power hungry. He'll start with Puckworld and then once one planet is enslaved, it'll be all too easy to go from there." Wildwing explained.

"Hey, quiet down over there!" a green saurian shouted in their direction. Nosedive shivered and Wildwing scooted closer to him, curling himself around his little brother. They waited for the lizard to pass by. Right now, it was "sleep time". Tomorrow, they'd be doing Dragaunus' bidding. At least they were getting fed, barely. He and Dive had each been given a blanket, but it might as well been a rag, the amount of good it was doing. He threw part of his blanket over Dive's shoulder. He found himself thinking about their parents. Ducaine willing, they made it out ok. He hoped and prayed that somehow, their parents didn't end up getting enslaved the way he and Dive had.

"Wildwing, are we gonna die?" he was pulled from his thoughts, and he met Dive's gaze. He hadn't seen his little brother look this young in some time.

"Course not, baby bro. I promise you; I won't let that happen."


	16. Where do we go?

_February 1995_

Anna stood ready, her hand at her side. Her saber rested on her shoulder. A hunter drone popped up in front of her, and she moved right, rolling across her shoulder and coming back up to a lunge, firing her puck launcher at the drone, taking it out. Two more appeared and she fired on them skillfully, taking them out in seconds. She stood there in the dust, standing ever ready. A circle of hunter drones rose from the ground, surrounding her. She smirked, reaching for her blade and, ducking to avoid their fire, swished the blade around, taking them all out in nearly a single swipe. Suddenly, ten rose from the ground and she looked pleasantly shocked. She ducked around them, taking them out one by one. She headed for the last one standing but came down wrong on her ankle. She gritted her teeth as her wrong footing caused her to fall. The hunter drone went to fire on her, but she dropped her saber, pulling out her puck launcher and firing at it.

"Not bad." came a voice over the speakers. The doors to the simulation room opened and Tim walked in, holding out his hand. She took it, standing up. She tried not to show it, but he could tell she was babying the one ankle.

"Anna-"

"Don't say it, Tim. I'm ready to get out there! I've been patient. I've let Canard go on scouts by himself. I'm ready to get out there and watch his back."

"Anna, it's not just about you watching your brother's back. You go out there, he's watching your back too," he explained.

"of course, he is. He's my brother, what else would he be doing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Anna. I'm sorry, I can't clear you with your ankle the way it is," he said, his word-final.

"Come on, Tim. I was able to take care of myself, even after I went down on the ground," she argued.

"Stand down, rookie. My report is final." Tim went from being a family friend back to his military attitude, and she knew there was no persuading him.

"Yes sir," she muttered as he turned and walked out. She followed behind, limping only slightly.

Canard walked in from patrol as she walked out of the simulation room.

"Hey, sis. How'd it go?" he asked, running up.

"Take a wild guess," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Your ankle still acting up?" he asked.

"It's been two months. How long does it take for a stupid sprain to heal?" she asked him irritably.

"Sis, it was a bad sprain. And it's not helping that you keep pushing it to heal faster than it can," he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well if it would hurry up and heal, I wouldn't have to push it," she groaned. He laughed lightly at his sister, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey babe." they both looked to the right where Trent was walking from. He took Canard's place, wrapping his arms around Anna.

"Hey."

"You cleared yet?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No. They won't let me go out with my ankle still injured," she muttered.

"You seem to be walking just fine," he muttered.

"Yeah, but out there she'd be running, jumping, climbing... everything she can't do very well right now because of her ankle." Canard argued.

"I think she can do it." Trent supported Anna, receiving a smile from her.

"See, he thinks I can do it," she smirked, walking away from the two drakes. Trent went to follow, but Canard grabbed him and slammed him against the wall.

"Look, I know you love to make Anna happy by kissing ass."

"Wait, Canard-"

"No, you wait Trent."

"But-"

"I know you love talking Anna up, putting these ideas in her head that she can do anything..." Trent opened his mouth but Canard stopped him, "don't get me wrong, I believe she can do anything as much as anybody. I'm her brother for Ducaine's sake. But I also believe her body needs time to heal." he said crossly, "So, how about the next idea you put in her head doesn't give her a one-way ticket to getting herself killed!" he growled.

"Yes, sir." Trent nodded as he gulped.

"Good. Glad we understand each other." Canard said, letting Trent go. Trent dropped to the ground and quickly scurried away in the direction Anna had gone. Canard sighed. What did Anna even see in him?

He rubbed his head, turning towards his bunk. He had earned some R&R.

* * *

Canard fell out of bed, feeling the ground shake beneath him.

"What the hell?" he wondered as he stood up, running out of the door to his room. He saw Anna down the hall and ran over to her as dirt shook from the ceiling. He grabbed onto her arm, dragging her towards the tunnels.

"Canard, what's going on!" she asked.

"We're under attack!" General McMallard shouted from behind them. They entered the tunnel, but Anna heard something beeping. She stopped. Canard and the General stopped running, looking back at her.

"Do you guys hear that?" a bunch of ducks were shoving around them, but the general easily tuned into what she heard.

"Everybody out of the tunnel!" he commanded, shoving her and Canard out of the tunnel. The tunnel blew and Anna screamed as she and Canard flew back.

"McMallard!" she screamed, looking up. His upper torso was sticking out from under a pile of rubble.

"General!" Canard exclaimed.

"You two need to get out now. Fall back to South base." the general quickly gasped out.

"But-"

"Get out now!" the general growled, motioning them out.

"No," Canard growled, running forward and trying to lift the rubble off of the general. McMallard swatted at Canard's legs as Anna ran forward.

"That's an order, Thunderbeak! Go!" McMallard growled.

"We can't leave you, General." Canard tried.

"Now!" The general insisted.

Canard shook his head but came to his senses as more of the ceiling fell around them.

"Let's get out of here, Anna," he commanded, grabbing his sister's hand and running.

Once outside, the remaining ducks from the collapse circled up around Canard. He looked at them, recognizing all but a couple.

"Anna!" Anna was met by Trent, who had also made it out of the destruction of the base. He pulled her into him and kissed her. Canard rolled his eyes before turning back to the rest of the ducks.

"Tanya, you remember how to get to Southside?" he asked. she shook her head.

"Down this way." he pointed, "if you turn down Slate at the corner of 4th, it's at the end of that road." he explained. He noticed everyone else listening intently.

"Take a group and head that way. I'll take a group and head there in a different direction," he said.

"Hell no, Canard. This time we stick together." she growled at him, "last time my commanding officer said to split up, I got to hear that he was shot in the back of the head." she sneered. His eyes went wide before he considered this.

"Fine, we travel together." he decided, taking off for South base. He found himself running, wanting to get there as fast as possible.

"Canard, those bombs were set up inside the base," Anna informed.

"I know, Anna," he muttered.

"What does that mean?" she asked, glancing behind her to the ducks.

"It means, there is a traitor among us," he said, stopping the group of ducks that followed him.

"Come on." he ushered the group into the alley and waited for the last duck to straggle in before he and Anna joined them.

"Canard, what are we doing?" Tim asked, leaning against the wall. Canard didn't answer him, trailing his eyes across the group.

"Someone has betrayed us." was all he said. Some ducks gasped. Others just looked genuinely surprised. His eyes trailed over the ducks.

"Tim, Roger, Kim. Stand by me." he said. "Henry, Tanya." he motioned for them to join him as well. "Trent..." he trailed off as Trent came to stand by Anna. His eyes trailed over the remaining ducks.

Lucretia, some kid named Jerry...

"Mary, stand by me." he ordered. He knew there was no way she would be involved with the tunnel blast. Even if she had, she would have made sure the general was far away from the tunnel when it blew. McMallard's weren't exactly the traitorous sort. As she came to stand by him, he saw she was silently crying, and Henry wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

_let's see... who else probably isn't guilty_ he actually already had a pretty good idea of who had done it, but he was having fun freaking the Jerry guy out. He could see the kid sweating.

"Anna, any guesses?" he asked, waving his hand to the remaining ducks. She walked forward, her hands behind her back, examining the ducks that stood there. Two more redheads who looked like twins and McMallards stood there. They were standing at attention, even though they looked sullen.

"You two, state your names and ranks." she ordered.

"1st Lieutenant Malachi McMallard!" said one.

"2nd Lieutenant Marcus McMallard!" said the other.

"I've got an idea if you've got an idea." she confirmed, turning and walking back to Canard's side.

"I've got a pretty good idea too." Tanya piped up and Canard turned around.

"I knew you would. The traitor was there for the first base's destruction. This traitor has managed to be the lone survivor more than once already. And I'm sure she was already making plans to be the only survivor yet again." his eyes rested on Lucretia and she shrunk back.

"What, me?" she asked.

"Oh, don't play innocent with me." he growled at her, "I don't know how you can even live with yourself."

"Survival of the fittest, babe," she smirked, pushing a button on a foreign communicator. Canard saw what she was doing and jumped for her but was too late as she disappeared in a green light.

"Shit," he muttered, standing back up.

"Come on, let's get to South base unless anyone else is planning on betraying their own race." he looked over the ducks in his group. He trusted these ducks, or at least most of these ducks, with his life. As they took off walking, he saw the McMallard twins surround their sister and he sighed. So many families were being broken because of this treacherous lizard.

They trudged through the city, avoiding detection. The wind whipped around them, and Anna leaned into Canard's side.

"You doing alright, sis?" he asked.

"Just a little cold," she muttered.

"You're always cold." he sighed, wrapping his arm around her as the trudged forward.

"Shit," Tanya said suddenly and Canard turned back.

"What is it, Tanya?" he asked, meeting her gaze.

"Lucretia was listening when you gave directions to the South base!" she exclaimed. Canard's face dropped as he opened his comm.

"McMallard! Major McMallard!" he tried through his comm.

"What's going on?" came the response.

"Miles, our base got destroyed. We had a traitor in our midst. I think she might know where your base is. Get out, now!" he ordered.

"Where are we supposed to go? West and South were the last ones." Miles responded.

"Head to the North base."

"The North? But that base hasn't been used since the '30s!" Miles exclaimed.

"Exactly. They won't know where to find us. Get your group out now!" Canard ordered again. There was a ruckus on the other side of the comm and Miles let out a yell as the comm went dead.

"Miles? Miles!" he called into the comm. Anna grabbed his arm, looking up at him.

"Come on, bro. If he gets out, he'll know where to lead his team. Let's get our team to the base." she tried. He sighed, shutting the comm.

"Yeah, alright," he muttered, steering his course to head for the North base.


	17. A Tyrant takes over

Canard was pleasantly surprised when Miles' group rolled in, almost 2 hours after his group had arrived. Some of the ducks were injured and Canard ordered Henry to go have a look and see what he could do. Since Tanya had helped Henry with his homework when he had attended school, she knew some medical things as well and acted as his assistant.

Once everyone had settled in, Canard found himself standing in front of the ducks of the mess hall.

"This is it." he announced, "we're all that's left of the military."

He looked out over the rows of ducks and sighed.

"And that means we don't have the luxury of giving up or quitting now." he said suddenly. The ducks looked up to him. "We aren't just fighting some raptrin tyrant. Now, we're facing a bigger threat. A threat upon our very existence! If we fail, our whole planet fails and the saurians win. So, we will stand and fight to the last breath. We will not give up and will fight this saurian in every way we know how." he promised.

"We can't do anything until we have a leader." Roger muttered from his spot. Murmurs of agreement ripped through the crowd.

"I nominate Canard!" Henry yelled and a huge group of cheers echoed in the mess hall.

"What?" he asked, glancing around.

"Well sure. You've gotten us this far, haven't you?" Henry asked, standing up. He went and stood by Canard, placing an arm around his shoulders, "I'd follow this guy into battle any day." he added.

"Any other nominations?" Canard tried. The mess hall was silent. He met another McMallard's gaze. she was the general's only other daughter; Mallory. She rolled her eyes, looking away from him.

"It's settled, Canard is now the leader of the military!" Henry exclaimed.

"No, not the military." Miles said from his spot. "this is now a fight for survival. This is a resistance." he announced.

"I have one request if you are to have me as your leader." Canard said before anyone could start talking.

"What is it?" Henry asked.

"I want Anna as my second in command," he demanded. Her eyes went wide at this, but she remained silent.

"Picking family over skill Thunderbeak?" came the snarky response from Mallory.

"She has more skill than you would believe, Mallory." he shot back at her.

"Let's see it, then!" she challenged, leaning forward and looking like she might go after Anna to prove her point.

"Alright, Mallory, ease off," Miles said, pushing her gently back in her chair.

"Any other retaliations?" he asked, glancing around. Nobody made a sound and he nodded.

"Good, then Anna is my second,"

"So, what are we going to do now?" came a call from the small crowd. Canard couldn't quite place where it came from, though he was sure it was one of the Lyghtenwing brothers.

"We rest up for the night. Tomorrow, we'll talk plans to take our world back from this monster."

* * *

_October 1995_

Anna sat in her bunk, hugging her knees to her chest. She checked her comm unit. It hadn't been that long since Trent had left, but she was still worried. A knock came at her bunk door and she sighed with relief as she slid the door open.

"Good, you're back." She said, ushering Trent in with the 18 pack of beer he carried at his side. She then paused, glancing down.

"Is… is that what you went out for?" she asked. He held it up, smirking.

"A lizard has taken control of the planet. In fact, has been in control of the planet for nearly a year. I need this to destress from that fact," he smiled. From his voice, she could already tell he'd had a couple on the way back. She sighed, moving towards him.

"Don't you think," she wrapped an arm around his gently, "you know, we should be sober in case something happens. I mean with a war going on, we'll need to be ready for anything," she tried. He shrugged her off of his arm.

"Lay off, one beer isn't going to hurt," he insisted, sitting the pack down and pulling a can out.

"Trent," she tried, grabbing his arm again.

"get off, Anna!" he snapped, shaking her away.

"Please-" she reached for him again, but he whipped around, his hand slapping across her face. She wasn't expecting it and went flying back.

"Knock it off, Anna!" he snapped, almost seeming oblivious to the fact he'd just connected his hand with her cheek. It happened enough, anymore when he was drinking, she shouldn't have been surprised.

"Fine, more for you," she snapped, turning toward the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked suddenly.

"I need air," she growled, hitting the button to open the door.

"Oh?" he questioned, reaching out and pulling her back into him. The door shut and she pushed against him, trying to get away, "and does _air _have a name?" he asked.

"Uh, it also goes by oxygen?" she tried sarcastically. He glared at her, sighing out.

"I'm not an idiot," he took a sip of the beer he'd opened, "I know the only reason you'd leave right now is because you're meeting up with someone,"

"Trent, you're wrong," she started before glaring, "you are a fucking idiot. I'm just going-"

"Don't fucking lie to me!" he suddenly snapped, swinging a fist around and hitting her in the face. She hit the ground and spit out some blood. He'd actually hit her hard.

"to get air," she finished her sentence, standing up. She glared at him, turning for the door again. He swung again, but she caught his fist and pushed him back. As she did, some beer sloshed out of the can.

"Anna, you're spilling my beer!" he snapped.

"Good! It's not like you need more!" she snapped, twisting his arm. He cried out in pain as she used his arm to lower him to the ground.

"I'll be back later. Just… air," she promised, sighing out as she walked out the door.

* * *

Anna sighed as she sat on a rooftop near the base. Close enough to get to cover quickly, but far enough away that if anybody saw her, they wouldn't be able to immediately find the base. She looked out. The night was quiet, aside from the occasional echo of stomping throughout the city, either caused by hunter drones or monitor towers.

"awfully cold up here," she didn't turn to look at the newcomer, recognizing her brother's voice. Honestly, she felt herself grow disappointed. She didn't know why she thought Duke might show, but she found herself wishing he had shown up rather than her brother.

"for you, I mean," Canard added casually, getting closer.

"better than in there," she muttered as he came to sit by her. As he did, his tone changed as he reached over rapidly, turning her face to look at him.

"Jesus, Anna. What happened?" he asked, tilting so he could see the black eye that was already forming.

"Who knows when it happened. We are fighting in a war after all," she lied, shaking her head. She really didn't feel like getting Canard involved. Besides, she knew Trent hadn't meant it. He'd just been drinking.

He raised an eyebrow at her, almost like he didn't believe her, but dropped it.

"So, what brings you up and about?" he asked.

"The thrill of possibly being caught?" she smirked, glancing sideways at him.

"Don't joke about that," he muttered, glancing back out over their barren city.

"even if it wasn't a joke, what if I actually did get captured? Maybe we could take them down from the inside!" she tried.

"Anna, we've had that discussion before. It's too dangerous," he insisted, trying to put an end to the conversation.

"What about Wildwing! Or Nosedive?" she pushed, and she saw him react to his best friend's name, "where are they, Canard? We haven't been able to find them in almost a year. What if they've been captured? I can get myself captured and escape with-"

"No!" he snapped. She sighed out, knowing the conversation was over.

"Okay then… what about Dragaunus' headquarters?" she asked.

"What about it, Anna?" he groaned, getting irritated.

"Any luck locating it?" she tried.

"No." he was disappointed.

"Any luck figuring out _how _to locate it?"

"also, no," he sighed out, not meeting her gaze.

"Hey," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "we'll find it,"

"You seem so sure," he mused, "there's only a million places on this planet that it could be," he looked away again.

"Yeah, but if anyone was going to find it, it'd be you," She tried. He shook his head.

"I didn't ask for this. Look at me, Annie. I'm not cut out to be a leader."

"Everyone else would disagree," she pushed.

"No, it's just that nobody else wants this burden on their shoulders. Keeping everyone alive, saving refugees while also somehow finding time to plot the takedown of Dragaunus."

"You've always been good at multitasking," she said with a smirk.

"Hardy har, Anna. Sorry, but when I put multitasking on my resume, I didn't realize it would involve such high-risk stakes."

"Hey, we'll figure it out," she promised, resting her hand on his arm, "as a team. Like we always do."

"I hope you're right, Annie. I'm no good at this leader stuff."

"Confidence, Canard. That's the first step. After that, all you have to do is somehow destroy Dragaunus' seemingly invisible master tower."

He opened his eyes wide at her words.

"What did you say?" he asked suddenly.

"Confidence?" she asked, "it's the first step to-"

"No, no. after that," he pushed.

"Dragaunus seemingly has an invisible master tower?" she arched an eyebrow.

"That would explain why we can't find it!" he pushed, suddenly jumping up.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Canard," she stood up next to him, "I was just being sarcastic. Nothing can really be invisible." She tried.

"Remember Nosedive talking about it? He mentioned something about invisible shields?" he asked, "the saurians have a lot of technology we don't. Dimensional gateways, to name a big one," he shrugged, "what if they somehow created some sort of camouflaging tech. They could use that tech to circle their headquarters-"

"and in doing so avoid detection!" she finished for him. He nodded, moving toward the fire escape.

"Come on!" he ushered, jumping over the side. She smiled, jumping after him. It'd been a while since she'd seen him have a sliver of hope at taking Dragaunus down.

* * *

"it's a possibility," Henry agreed with Canard, examining a huge gash in a random duck's leg. It was one of the refugees that had been injured in the last group that had been brought back.

They were in an opening in the sewers. Henry hung out here a lot nowadays, as a lot of the refugees needed medical attention.

"So, what do we do about it?" Canard asked.

"You're asking me? I'm a medical officer," Henry rolled his eyes, grabbing out a needle and sticking it near the gash. The duck gritted his teeth, looking away as Henry moved the needle about, numbing up the area.

"You also double-majored in computer science," Canard pushed. Henry nodded in agreement.

"As true as that is, Tanya doubled in computer science and engineering. She'll know better than I how to even begin looking for an invisible field," Henry explained, threading a needle. He glanced up at the duck that was staring at him in fear.

"You might want to look away for this," he advised, and the duck nodded, glancing in the complete opposite direction.

"Tanya's out. She said she would most likely be gone for a couple of days," Canard reminded Henry.

"That's right. She put together a bunch of little bombs to attack the monitor towers with," Henry remembered. He sighed out.

"Look, Canard, even if it's true and Dragaunus is hiding behind some invisible cloak, the only technology that _might _even exist to find him…" Henry paused, finishing up his stitch work. He sighed out, hesitating.

"What is it, Henry?" Anna pushed.

"this is going to sound crazy," he murmured, "the mask. The mask of Drake Ducaine," he revealed.

"Drake Ducaine?" Canard asked, before scoffing, "but that's… impossible. He was a legend. A myth."

"Canard look around you. Does what's happening seem like a myth to you?" Anna pushed.

"They're attacking us because of what Drake Ducaine supposedly did to this guy's ancestors," Henry agreed, placing a long piece of gauze over the stitches. He ripped some tape off of a reel, placing it across the bandage.

"Alright, you're good." He announced. The duck glanced down at his leg before smiling, thanking Henry, and hobbling off.

Henry sighed out, turning back to Canard.

"I know it sounds fake, but a year ago, so did the saurians. If you had told me a year ago that a saurian invasion was about to happen, I would have called you crazy and walked away laughing," Henry said.

"You've got a point, Henry," Canard shrugged.

"Any idea where to even begin this search?" Anna pushed from beside the two.

"Beats me," Henry admitted.

"I've got something of an idea," Canard started.

"You do?" Anna looked shocked. Canard smirked at his little sister.

"Well sure. Remember that class I shared with Nosedive? We had just finished up a unit on Drake Ducaine. It was said that Drake Ducaine was laid to rest in an ancient tomb in the mountains called Twin Beaks."

"So that's where we start our search," Anna put together.

"No," Canard interjected, "that's where _I _start _my _search."

"What?" she asked, tilting her head.

"You're my second in command, Anna." He tried.

"And as your second in command, I'm going so I can watch your back."

"As my second in command," he argued, "you're to stay here and lead the resistance in the event that I don't come back from this mission."

"Canard, that's stupid," she snapped, "I can't let you go alone."

"I'll go," Henry interrupted the siblings.

"Henry, no." Anna started.

"She's right, Henry. You're our only trained medical officer. You're needed here."

"Please, Canard." Anna tried, "take Roger or Tim. Jerry, for all I care. Just somebody to watch your six."

"Fine, I won't go alone." Canard promised. Anna sighed with relief.

"Good," she snapped, walking off toward the entrance to the sewers.

"Could she be any worse?" Canard asked, looking back at Henry.

"She acts like that because she cares, and you know it." Henry glanced sideways at his best friend.

"I know." Canard groaned, "she reminds me of mom," his smile was sad as he looked where Anna had disappeared to. He cleared his throat, trying to forget about the thought.

"Well, if I'm gonna make my sister happy, I better go find someone to take with me on a scout." Henry just nodded his goodbye to Canard before turning back around. He still had a couple of more injured ducks he wanted to check on.


	18. Anna's in Charge

_April 1996_

A group of ducks entered the military base. The group consisted of Kim, Jerry, Tim, Trent, Mallory and Anna. Anna pulled back her hood. She and the others were soaking wet.

"Get some weather up there?" Miles asked, coming to greet the group.

"No shit," Mallory rolled her eyes at her brother, shoving past him. He rolled his eyes back at his sister's attitude.

"Anything?" Anna asked, coming to meet Miles. Miles shook his head.

"Anna, don't you think-"

"No!" she snapped, walking past Miles.

"Look, I don't want to believe it either. But they've been gone 5 months. Don't you think you should at least start acting like you being our leader isn't a temporary thing?"

"But it is." She said simply. Miles gave her a look and she glared at him, "he's coming back, Miles!" she snapped, "he promised he would."

"Anna, I get it but-"

"No buts!" she interrupted him again and he glared at her.

"Stop interrupting me!" he snapped suddenly.

"Is there a problem?" Trent asking, coming to stand beside Anna.

"No problem as long as she shuts up for five seconds!" Miles glared.

"Sounds like you do have a problem," Trent growled, rolling up his sleeves and walking forward.

"Trent, no!" Anna snapped, putting her hands on his chest and shoving him back.

"I'd listen to your girlfriend," Miles mocked, glaring. Trent glared back at Miles before glaring down at Anna.

"Fine," he jerked away, walking toward their bunk.

"Miles, I understand where you're coming from, but the only real plan we have right now relies on Canard coming back," she insisted, "so I've gotta believe my brother is coming back. Not just for my sake, but for everyone's sake. I've gotta believe he's found the mask of Drake Ducaine."

Miles sighed out, "I know," he admitted, "I also know that everyone's looking to you for guidance. If you're not 100% in the position, then the resistance won't know who to look to. Half of them don't even know anymore if they're supposed to follow you, or if they're supposed to still be holding on for Canard to return."

"Honestly, I don't either." She admitted, and he heard her voice crack. Tears entered her eyes, but she wouldn't meet his gaze, "after we lost radio contact I…"

"Hey," Miles rushed forward, pulling her into a hug. It was out of character for him and Anna was shocked before accepting his hug, "I get it, kid." He pulled out from the hug, holding her out in front of him, "you're Canard's little sister. By that information alone, you're a natural-born leader, just like him." He gave her an encouraging smile, "and you by no means are expected to do this alone. A good leader always looks to their team for guidance. Remember that, and you will do great things as a team captain."

"Thanks, Miles," she smiled at him before glancing down the hall, "listen, I'm gonna catch some shut-eye while I've got a second,"

"I'll grab ya if anything comes up," he promised, knowing what she was asking.

"Thanks," She said, heading toward her and Trent's bunk.

She entered the bunk to see Trent already had a beer in hand. She knew it wasn't the first of the day, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

"don't do that," he said simply as she entered the bunk, pulling off her armor.

"Do what?" she asked, setting her armor by the door.

"Undermine me in front of other guys. It makes me look weak."

"No, it keeps you from getting into a needless fight," she corrected, walking toward the bed.

"So, what did you and Miles do after I left?" he asked, downing another sip of beer. She flopped down onto the bed.

"We talked," she muttered into the pillow.

"Yeah right," he muttered, taking another sip.

"Can we not do this right now?" she snapped, "I'm so tired of you accusing me of fooling around with other people. I am yours. All yours, but I won't be for long if you keep jumping to conclusions!" she growled, sitting up and looking at him.

Without warning, he reached back and hit her.

"I wouldn't," he laid another hit into her, "have to jump," another hit, "to conclusions," one more, "if you weren't acting," Anna was seeing stars as he laid another one into her. She held her arms up in defense, but it was no use, "so suspiciously!" she flopped back onto the bed with the final blow. She wiped her beak off, seeing blood.

"Trent, I think you need to leave," her voice came out a slur between the bruising that was already forming and how badly her head hurt.

"Why don't you?" he slurred, opening another can of beer.

"Good idea!" she snapped.

"wait, where do you think you're going?" he asked, getting up after her.

"Oh my god!" she snapped, turning back around to him, "make up your stupid fucking mind!"

He swung again, but she managed to block it, laying a blow into his abdominal area. He bent forward, grabbing his stomach. As he bent forward, she brought her knee up, knocking him back.

"I'm sorry, Trent," she tried, tears beginning to stream down her face, "I'm sorry," she said as she left him in a pile on the floor and ran down the hall.

"Anna?" Mallory asked as the other duck ran past her. Mallory glanced back to Miles before glancing back the direction Anna had run.

* * *

Duke stood in the shadows, high above the refugees. He watched as the Brotherhood successfully unloaded another delivery of food for the people, and he had to smile.

"You look pretty happy considering a power-hungry lizard is in charge of the planet," Darren muttered beside him, crossing his arms.

"One small act can have a big impact," Duke muttered, "look how everyone lights up when we show up," he smiled.

"that's not the only reason you oversee the deliveries this far in," Darren muttered. Duke sighed out, looking down.

"The military base isn't too far from here. The refugees talk about the military ducks coming through here all the time. If she found her brother then there's a pretty good possibility that you know, she's with them."

"Duke… buddy," Darren started, resting a hand on his shoulder, "Most of the military has been wiped out, and you told me yourself the last time you saw her-"

"She's a survivor, Darren!" Duke growled back at his best friend.

"I know that, Duke. But if it was as bad as you said it was, it could have been broken. In the middle of an alien invasion…" Darren sighed out, "it's just difficult to imagine that she found the medical care that she needed."

"Darren, I'm not talking about this again. Besides, if any military ducks come through here, it doesn't have to be her. They just have to confirm to me that she's alive."

"Duke, I know you care about her, but I don't want to see you so hung up on this. I know you're not sleeping," he glanced sideways at his best friend, "in fact, when was the last time you slept through the night?"

Duke shook his head, glancing back at the ducks below him. He scanned his eyes over them, looking for a familiar face. Anybody, even if it was just somebody from the Christmas party almost a year ago. His face fell when everyone fell short of familiarity.

"It's all been handed out," Aiden was heard as he jumped up to join them.

"Good work," Duke praised, though his face gave away his true feelings.

"Bro?" Aiden asked. Duke shook his head, firing off a grappling hook and disappearing somewhere into the sewers.

Aiden glanced at Darren who sighed out, shaking his head.

* * *

Anna sat on the rooftop, overlooking the city. She had one knee pulled to her chest while the other dangled carelessly over the side.

"Hey," Anna jumped, not expecting anybody to show up. She glanced back seeing the red headed female walking up behind her.

"Hey Mal," Anna croaked, not meeting her gaze.

"Anna," Mallory pushed, coming to sit beside her, "what happened?" she probed. Anna sighed out, turning to look at Mallory. Mallory's eyes widened. Anna's face was bloody, and it looked like both eyes were bruised.

"What happened!" Mallory demanded.

"Trent's been drinking again," Anna admitted, her chin resting on her knee.

"Trent did this?" Mallory asked, glaring, "does he even know how to treat a woman?"

"He thinks I'm cheating on him," Anna shrugged.

"That's no excuse!" the hard-military woman spat, and Anna couldn't remember a time when she'd ever seen Mallory care this much.

"What do you care?" Anna muttered, "I thought I was just Canard's untrained baby sister,"

Mallory looked taken aback by Anna's words before sighing out.

"I come from a military family, Anna. I don't know a McMallard that hasn't been in the military," she glanced sideways at Anna, "so sometimes I forget McMallards aren't the only military family."

"Canard's the only one in my family who went into the military," Anna muttered.

"Is that what you think?" Mallory asked, and Anna shot her a confused look. Mallory half-smiled at her, "That's not the way I heard it…"

"What?" Anna probed.

"I heard a story once from my father. It was back in the day, when he was younger. Before any of us had even been thought of. I think it was before he even met my mother. He was a private then. You know, back in the day, we were consistently at war with Rapcilian," she waited as Anna nodded. She knew that.

"anyways, my father told me a story once. Back when he was a private, he was out on scout. His squad got ambushed by a Rapcilian gang. They had been captured, and they were all tied up. The Rapcilians had lowered all of them to their knees, making them sit against a destroyed building. My father thought that was it. He was a goner and he was going to become a prisoner of war, or worse. But then, he heard gunfire, and another Squad from his Regiment came screaming into view. While the new Squad attacked the Rapcilians, chasing them off, one of the ducks from the new squad ran over and freed all of the ducks from my father's Squad that had been captured."

"That's an intense story, but-"

"that duck that saved my father? Sergeant Pochard Thunderbeak."

Anna's eyes widened as she turned to look at Mallory. Mallory smiled.

"looks like it might run in your family too," Mallory mused, "I'm not used to saying sorry, but I am sorry that I doubted you. While Canard's been gone, you've been an admirable substitute. And I mean that," she promised.

"Thanks, Mal," Anna was confused but grateful for the female's praise.

Mallory looked sadly at Anna.

"You can't let him treat you like that," she referred back to the beating Anna had taken from Trent.

"he doesn't mean it," Anna tried, "he just gets drunk and then gets angry. He forgets where he is or what he's doing."

"That's no excuse, Anna." Mallory spat, "a real man will never lay hands on a woman. Ever."

Anna sighed out, "I appreciate the concern, but it's my problem and I'll deal with it as I need,"

Later, upon returning to her room, Anna found that Trent was gone. She shrugged, finding comfort in being able to lay alone. She found no sleep, however, her mind lost, wondering what could have happened to her brother, or Duke, or Wildwing and Nosedive. So many people unaccounted for. So many people to worry about.


	19. Guess who's back

_Warning! Sex Scene coming up, and with the sex scene, I am now switching the story to an M rating... go easy on me, I am soooo not used to writing stuff like this, so let me know how I do. _

Anna awoke, seeing Trent was lying beside her. He was passed out and she was very careful, moving skillfully around the room in silence. She didn't want to wake him, not wanting to provoke another episode. She needed to sit down and actually talk to him about their relationship, but she chose not to just that second, instead slipping out of their room.

She walked into the control room; her head held high. Miles was right, and she was going to be the leader the ducks needed at this time.

"What have we got?" she asked, coming up behind Miles.

"Silence. You wanna organize a scout? Go check things out?" he asked. She nodded.

"You stay here. I'll take Marcus, Mallory, and Tim." She confirmed.

"Sounds good, I'll get them rounded up." He walked forward, pulling her shoulder so he could turn her to just talk to him.

"What happened?" he asked. She hadn't even thought of the fact that she was probably still bruised up from her fight with Trent.

"It's nothing," she tried, but he arched an eyebrow, showing her, he knew there was more to it. She shook her head at him, "nothing you need to concern yourself with. I'm fine," she promised. He looked unconvinced but shrugged.

"Alright. When do you want the group to be ready to leave?" he asked. She glanced at her comm. It read 2100.

"Have them ready at 2300. There's a possible slave camp east from here I wanna check out. See if there's a way to free them."

"sounds good. I'll let them know," he promised.

"Thanks, Miles," she turned away, walking from the control room. A duck passed her in the hallway, and she felt him stare at her. She realized she must look rougher than she thought she did and quickly moved back to her room, trying to avoid being seen by anybody else.

She got into her room, leaning against the door.

"What happened?" she looked at the bed to see Trent was awake.

"I'm organizing a group to leave at 2300." She informed, walking forward.

"No, I mean your face." He said as she sat down on the bed next to him.

"Are you serious?" she asked. He nodded sincerely.

"Trent, you did this." She said, pointing to it.

"What?" he seemed astonished, "no I didn't!"

"Trent, you were drunk. You probably don't remember,"

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry," he said, reaching for her. She flinched at his touch, but he gently pulled her into him. She allowed him to pull her into him as tears entered her eyes. What was she even doing anymore?

"You know I didn't mean it, right?" he asked. She only nodded, unable to force the words out of her beak. It didn't matter if he had meant it. But he was loving on her now. She was confused. He tilted her head up so he could kiss her. At first, the kisses were tender. Then, they got a little rougher as he moved so he was leaning over the top of her.

"Trent," she stopped, putting a hand on his chest.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Not now," she tried. He looked taken aback for a second.

"What?"

"I've gotta leave soon," she tried. She could feel his hips moving slightly, his bulge rubbing against her spandex.

"So? That's a couple of hours from now," he tried, leaning back down and kissing her. She kissed him for a second before pushing him back.

"That doesn't matter. I need to be ready," she tried.

"Oh, come on," he pushed, pulling her top up and placing a hand on her bare boob. His fingers traced over her nipple, pulling slightly. She moaned, her hips moving with his.

Is this why she was still with him? Because the sex was good? Was the sex even worth the beatings? She'd answer that question later.

She moved her hands toward his hips, pulling his shirt off. He moved his hands downward, pulling her pants off swiftly. His hands traced down her hips before two fingers found themselves rubbing against her clit. Her breath hitched, and she gasped as his fingers started moving faster. He bit at her neck and she groaned, her hands messing up his hair. He pulled off his pants, his already bulging member revealing itself.

Tears entered her eyes. She was a piece of meat. Something he could use to get off to. And then he'd start drinking again and beat her.

She looked away as she felt him enter her. She suddenly wasn't into it, but that didn't matter. At least she knew it wouldn't matter to him.

* * *

"Anna, are you alright?" Mallory whispered next to her.

"I'm good, why?" she asked, leaning against an alley. Both ducks quieted as a hunter drone walked by. Anna glanced around the corner before ushering her group forward.

"You seem off," Mallory said from behind her.

"I'm good, promise," Anna said, rounding the corner. High fences with barbed wire on top came into view and Anna smiled, rushing forward. The other three followed her.

As Anna came upon the fence, she saw a duck on the other side.

"Hey!" she said in a loud whisper. The duck that was lying there glanced up, running toward the fence.

"Hey, who are you!" she asked.

"The resistance," Anna smiled, "We're trying to figure out how to get you and the other ducks out of this."

"this one is heavily guarded," the other duck promised, "I've heard the saurians talking, and they're separating half of us in about a month or two. The mining camps have suffered heavy casualties," she explained.

"Probably because they're not feeding the ducks enough and the ducks are collapsing from exhaustion," Marcus muttered. The other duck nodded in conformation.

"I'm going," Anna said suddenly, receiving surprised looks from all the ducks around her.

"Anna, you're the leader of the resistance. You can't go," Tim shot at her.

"Canard will be back any day now. I can feel it. I'll get "captured" into this slave camp and then when Canard gets back, we can organize an escape for all these ducks." Anna promised.

"Anna, no," Mallory snapped.

"Without any timeframe of when Canard will actually be back, we can't risk it." Marcus agreed, "what if he doesn't get back for another three months,"

"Or doesn't come back at all," Tim murmured, receiving a glare from Anna.

"Please, Anna. Listen to reason. This is stupid. Somebody else can go, but not you. Not the leader," Mallory snapped.

"My mind's made up. I'm going to get myself captured. Tell Miles he's in charge until Canard returns."

"But-"

"that's an order!" Anna snapped, glaring at all three of them. They all looked down.

"Yes, ma'am."

"good," Anna said, taking off for the street.

She put herself in the center, standing in the open.

"Hey!" she shouted, and a group of hunter drones moved in her direction, hearing her commotion.

"Halt, Puckworldian!" one said as all 4 of them adjusted their blasters to aim at her. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see 6 more had approached from the other side of the street.

"You are hereby under arrest and will be sentenced to Workcamp 2." Another said as it moved forward. She smiled before, suddenly; she was barreled into.

"Halt!" one of the drones said, realizing they'd lost eyes on her. Anna didn't know who had hold of her, but he was dragging her across the alleyways, pulling her as far away as they could get.

"Wait, no! that was the plan!" she growled.

"Not on my watch," her eyes widened as the figure stopped and she was face to face with her brother.

"Canard?" she asked, smiling before throwing herself into his arms. "Canard, you're back!" she exclaimed.

Roger and Malachi came into view from the alleyway.

"guys!" she exclaimed, giving them both hugs. She turned back to her brother.

"When did you get back?" she asked.

She heard panting as her squad came running up.

"Jesus," Mallory said, first seeing Canard before her eyes rested on her brother; Malachi.

"Malachi!" she exclaimed, hugging him. He hugged her back, smiling. Marcus came up behind them, hugging around both of them at once.

"Roger?" Tim asked, seeing his brother. Roger smiled as his brother hugged him too.

"We got back to base about half an hour ago. Miles informed me you had left to locate a slave camp east from the base."

"Uh, yeah." Anna glanced down.

"Yeah, as soon as he told me I knew what you were planning," he glared at her, "what were you thinking! Leader of the resistance and you were just going to up and leave? Get yourself captured?"

"You up and left!" she snapped back suddenly, glaring at him.

"Uh, guys?" Tim tried, going ignored.

"To find something to help us, Anna. What was your plan going to do?"

"guys?" Tim tried again.

"It was going to give us an inside advantage!" she snapped.

"Oh sure, great inside advantage trying to get yourself killed!" he snapped back at her.

"guys!" Tim shouted.

"What!" both of them snapped, turning on him.

"Hunter drones approaching from the east." He said, pointing to the direction of the noise. Canard and Anna seemed to tune into the sound.

"Let's move," Canard ordered, climbing the nearest fire escape.

* * *

Once back at the base, Canard flipped back on Anna.

"Come on," he ordered. He shot a glance at everyone else before walking to his bunk with his sister.

"Canard!" Kim distracted him, running up to him. She pulled him into a deep, long kiss.

"I thought… I mean, I didn't want to, but-"

"it's ok, Kimmy." Canard said, resting his forehead on hers, "I'm back."

Anna smiled at the pair. She loved seeing Canard and Kim together. They treated each other so well. She never saw them fight, ever. There was only unconditional love between the two, and she was jealous.

"Anna, what happened?" Kim asked, suddenly glancing back at the girl. Anna shrunk back, knowing Kim had seen the bruises.

"That's what I'm about to find out," Canard promised, shoving past Kim and ushering Anna forward.

"We'll just be a second," Anna promised, shoving past Kim as well and heading off to the bunk.

She sat down on Canard's bed, waiting for the explosion. It never came.

"I missed you so much, sis." He said, wrapping her up in a big hug. It was unexpected, but she accepted it happily.

"I missed you too, Canard. I gotta say, everyone was worried that you weren't coming back." She admitted.

"Nah, I just got caught up excavating."

"communications cut out," Anna reminded him.

"I know. I don't think we got very good service out there," he admitted, "so, what happened to your face?" he pressed. She glanced away from him and he glared.

"what happened, Anna." He pushed.

"I don't want you getting involved," she started, "he will stop,"

"Trent?" Canard asked. He nodded, "Trent did this to you?" he asked bewildered. She nodded again.

"I'm gonna kill him," Canard growled, standing up.

"Canard, no," Anna said, pulling on his arm.

"I disappear and he beats on my baby sister? And thinks he can get away with it?" Canard asked, shaking his head, "he's got another thing coming," he ripped from her grip on him and opened the door, storming out.

"Canard?" Kim had been waiting outside the room.

"Did you know Trent was beating on Anna?" he asked her. Her eyes widened, looking back at Anna. Anna looked down in shame.

"Uh, no," she admitted.

"I didn't either," Canard growled, taking off down the hall.

"Canard," Anna followed after him along with Kim. Both girls followed him as he made his way to the door to Anna and Trent's room. He banged loudly on it.

"What?" came a slur from inside and Anna shook her head. She was pretty sure Trent was already drunk. Canard shook his head, knowing he'd be dealing with a drunk. The door slid open and before Trent could say anything, Canard pulled back a fist and punched him in the face.

"What the fuck was that for!" Trent slurred from the ground. Canard dropped down, grabbing Trent by his shirt and nailing him in the face a couple more times.

"How does that feel!" Canard growled, nailing him again.

"Feel good to be beaten on! Huh!" Canard snapped, throwing another fist into Trent's face.

"Canard that's enough!" Anna shouted, grabbing his arm before he could nail Trent again. She pulled him up and he shook her off of him. Trent laid there, blood dripping from his beak.

"You ever hit my little sister again, and I'll do far worse next time." Canard glared. Anna kneeled down next to Trent as Canard huffed, turning and leaving.

"Canard, wait!" Kim was heard shouting as the door closed after they left.

"What was that about?" Trent asked.

"He saw my face, and what you did the last time you'd been drinking," Anna admitted.

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry," Trent said, suddenly sitting up and pulling her into a hug. She felt herself tense at his touch before easing up and hugging him back.

"Trent, I think…" she sighed out, not wanting to get hit again, "I think you need to sober up. Stop drinking, at least for a little while."

"Why?" he suddenly demanded, and Anna flinched. He didn't make any move to hit her, though.

"Well, I mean the last time you got drunk, you didn't even remember hitting me," she tried. He looked guilty, glancing away.

"You know what baby, you're right," he said, standing up.

"What?" she asked. He went over to the remaining 18 pack, that had about 5 cans left in it. He grabbed the beer and moved to the sink in their shared bathroom. She watched in astonishment as he opened the cans and, one by one, dumped them down the sink.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Seriously," he promised, sounding as if he'd sobered up, "I didn't realize my drinking was hurting you more than it was me," he said, wrapping his arms around her, "I promise, I'll never drink again."


	20. Recruiting

Anna sat down in the briefing room. The swelling had finally gone down, so the other ducks weren't staring as much anymore.

In the room sat Henry, Tanya, all the McMallards, all the Iceblades, and Canard.

"What's going on?" Anna asked once the door was closed.

"I want this to stay between only the people in this room," he said, "I trust every single one of you and I know there's no way any of you would betray the resistance,"

"Canard?" Tim asked from his spot.

"I found it," he said, and everyone seemed to lean forward a little, "it took a long fucking time, and a lot of digging and excavating but," he reached into his side pouch and pulled out a goalie mask.

"It's the mask of Drake Ducaine!" Henry exclaimed.

"Does… does it work?" Tanya asked. Canard nodded.

"I put it on and tested it out. There's an energy reading based just North of here that the mask picks up. If I'm not mistaking, I think the mask is detecting Dragaunus' headquarters."

"Dragaunus is based just north of here?" Anna asked.

"it makes sense. There's nothing North of here. What better place to set up a headquarters and to make sure nobody accidentally stumbles on it," Miles nodded.

"So what are we waiting for, let's take him out." Roger piped up.

"Negative, Roger." Canard held up his hand, "when we strike, we'll only have one shot at this. We need to plan this out and plan it out right."

"What's to plan? We go in there and blow him sky-high!" Tim agreed with his brother. Canard sighed out.

"We need to be more thought out than that." Canard snapped before glancing back at Tanya, "Tanya, you think you can manufacture some bombs that'll take down Dragaunus' headquarters."

"Well, I can give it a go. The level of destruction you're looking for, though, it might take me a while," she muttered, "I mean, maybe even a couple of months." She admitted.

"That's ok." Canard nodded, "that'll give me enough time to orchestrate the best approach to this. Like I said, we've only got one shot to take out Dragaunus."

* * *

_June 1996 _

"You said they're moving the slaves soon, right?" Canard asked Anna as they moved down the alley.

"Yes… uh, here!" she said, moving to the fence she'd talked to that last girl at. She was still there and sat up as she heard them approach.

"You didn't get captured," she observed as Anna ran up.

"Yeah, big brother wouldn't let me." She smirked, pointing toward Canard.

"I don't blame him. I wouldn't let my little sister end up here either," the girl agreed.

"What's your name?" Canard asked.

"Victoria." The girl said simply. He nodded.

"Victoria, I need a favor," Canard said, pulling a picture out of his pack, "Have you seen these two?" he asked. Anna gave him a look as she saw he'd whipped out the picture from when he and Wildwing graduated. She and Nosedive were in the picture as well. When he passed the picture to Victoria, he made sure to point to Wildwing and Nosedive.

"Uh, yeah. I managed to get stuck in the group that's staying here, but they're being moved tomorrow… to the mining camp." She explained. Canard's eyes widened.

"Can you get them for me?" he asked, realizing she'd seen them. She shook her head.

"Their side of the camp is heavily guarded. There's no way I could usher them over here without arising suspicion."

Canard sighed.

"When are they leaving tomorrow?" Anna asked.

"Daybreak?" Victoria guessed, "probably 0600."

"Thanks, Victoria," Canard murmured, moving from the fence.

"don't worry… this is almost over. I can feel it," Anna promised through the fence before following back after her brother.

"How are we supposed to save them?" he asked as she came to stand by him.

"Intercept them in the line." She said, "find an alley that goes by the route the saurians are moving them on and when they pass, grab them."

"You think it'll work?" he asked.

"It's worth a shot. We've gotta try." She urged.

* * *

The line of ducks marched forward, almost all wearing a sullen look the whole way.

"Dive, what are we gonna do?" Wing asked, glancing back to Dive. This was the first time he and Dive had been "moved" from one camp to the next, and he was looking for a hole to escape. But if they did escape, where would they go? Dragaunus practically had control of the whole planet.

"I hear ya, bro." Dive said, "I mean, we keep hearing about the resistance but, where are they?" he asked.

"I don't know." Wildwing sounded absolutely defeated. "Maybe they're just a legend, like Drake Ducaine." he stopped walking, feeling his legs give up once his head decided to give up, "it's hopeless. We don't stand a chance." he shook his head.

A hand appeared from the alleyway they were stopped by and grabbed Wildwing, dragging him in. Dive looked shocked before being pulled in himself.

"Annie!" he exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.

"Canard!" Wildwing exclaimed just the same, hugging his best friend, "where have you been all these months?"

"We're part of what's left of the military, in the new resistance." Canard explained.

"The resistance, it really exists!" Wildwing and Nosedive shot excited glances at each other. Canard nodded.

"I'm organizing a team of our best special forces, and a few civilians we've had our eyes on, like you." he pointed to Wildwing.

"We're gonna take out Dragaunus." Canard explained, drawing his thumb across his neck. Wildwing felt his hope disappear once again.

"How? No one's ever even seen him." he muttered, putting his hands in his pocket and turning away from Canard.

"I found it Wildwing." Wildwing looked back at his friend with curiosity. "In an ancient tomb in the mountains, they call Twin Beaks. The mask." he pulled the goalie mask from his pouch, "Drake Ducaine's mask."

Dive went towards Canard, leaning towards the mask. "didn't I tell ya, man! Was Drake Ducaine the main duck, or what?" he asked, reaching for the mask. Canard pulled it back out of the teenager's reach.

"Beat it kid, before you get us all into trouble," he growled. Anna shot him a hard look and Wildwing glared.

"No." he walked over, putting his arm around Dive's shoulders. "if you want me than my brother's part of the deal." Canard raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, but you're responsible for the kid's safety," he said, pointing.

"Alright, bro!" Dive exclaimed. Anna walked over next to the brothers and Dive put his arm around Anna's shoulders.

"Let's go kick some ass, Annie!" he exclaimed, and she just smiled at him, shaking her head.

* * *

"You sure you know where you're going?" Canard asked as they trekked the sewers. Dive had already made many complaints of the smell, but Canard and Anna were already so used to it, they couldn't smell what he did.

"Kind of. I know how to get to the corner of Higgins and South above ground, but the sewers are a little tricky," she muttered, her flashlight on her blueprints as she led the way.

"How do we know he's even going to be there?" Dive asked skeptically.

"He'll be there. Crazy sonofabitch has been fighting Dragaunus himself for months, so we know he's still alive." Anna muttered.

"Wait, how do you know he's been fighting Dragaunus?" Wildwing asked. Anna smirked.

"How do you think the refugees are getting their food? They describe the group of ducks that deliver the food. They keep to themselves but are always led by a duck in a maroon jumpsuit, with a golden saber and an eyepatch with a chip in his beak." she gave them a knowing look, "hard not to make the connection once you hear that." she muttered.

"Refugees?" Wildwing asked, a little unsettled. Anna nodded.

"Since the invasion, the sewer systems have been down so water no longer flows through them. There are little areas and spots in the sewers where we've set up refugee camps. It's not the nicest place, but it's the only place we can put them. We can't very well take them back to the resistance camp. We get one more traitor on our hands, and the resistance is history." Canard muttered.

"Traitor?" Wildwing asked. Anna rolled her eyes.

"Corporal Lucretia Decoy. She sold out the military bases, got a lot of ducks killed, nearly wiped out the resistance." Anna explained before she stopped walking.

"What's up, sis?" Canard asked.

"Well, fathead, give me a boost and I'll see what's up... there," she said, pointing to the lid above them. Canard bent down to one knee and put one hand on top of the other. She put her foot in his hands, leaning on his shoulders as he stood up, letting her grab onto the wiring that acted as a ladder protruding from the wall. Many of them had been broken off so there were really only a couple of rungs left hanging off the wall. She crawled up and slowly lifted the lid, to keep from making more noise than she had to. She slid the lid halfway off and looked out.

"What do you see?" Nosedive called up, receiving a glare from Canard.

"If something was over us up there, Anna would be dead because of your big mouth!" he growled at the teenager. Nosedive shrunk back but Canard didn't say anymore because of the hard stare he had received from Wildwing.

"Come on up." she called, glancing back down. Canard lifted Nosedive and Wildwing up the same way as before and Wildwing turned back to help Canard up. They all climbed out, glancing around.

"not bad." Canard muttered, looking at the sign that said 2nd and South. They were only a couple of more blocks away. Anna smirked at him before she took off down the road.

"Come on, we're not there yet," she muttered, coming up to the side of a building. She looked around the corner and slammed herself back against the wall, holding up a fist for Canard and the other two to stop. She peeked back around to see 6 hunter drones surrounding a duck, one bigger than she had yet to ever see before.

"There's a duck surrounded back there," she whispered to Canard, pointing.

"How many assailants?" Canard asked. Anna glanced back around the wall and then back at him.

"About six," she informed. Canard sighed, glancing back at Wildwing and Nosedive.

"I'm sorry, I don't have a weapon for you guys," he muttered.

"Stay here," Anna ordered them, checking her gun to make sure it was fully loaded.

"Canard, go left," Anna ordered, whipping around the corner and heading right. Canard followed suit, going left and Nosedive leaned forward to look around the corner. Wildwing grabbed onto Nosedive's shoulder, just in case his brother thought he was following the Thunderbeaks into battle.

"When did Anna start barking orders?" Dive asked, looking back at Wildwing.

Anna whipped out her saber. The hunter drone didn't sense her right away, so she was able to take it out easily. Another that was closer to the giant duck started firing on her. She tucked and rolled, whipping out her puck launcher and firing on it. She gritted her teeth as a blast scraped her upper arm. Canard took down another on his own side, and he hadn't been seen coming because of the distraction Anna had given. The other three drones were nearly instantly taken out by this duck they had happened upon. He took them out simply by punching them all once. Anna's eyes were wide as she came to stand in front of him. The duck looked at his fist after punching the last one.

"Pain is an illusion." he muttered before gritting in pain, grabbing his hand, "an illusion that really really hurts."

"Grin!" Canard exclaimed upon seeing him.

"You know this guy?" Anna asked, unsure, as she dug around in her bag.

"Yeah, sure. We were in the same writing class in college!" Canard exclaimed, seeming to be excited upon happening on this duck, "I thought you might be dead!" Canard admitted to Grin.

"Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely." came Grin's reply. Anna looked confused at him before turning back to her arm, wrapping the gauze around it.

"That's just the way he talks." Canard explained, shrugging it off. "Wing, get out here!" he called. The brothers came around the corner to stand with the group.

"This is the guy I told you about! From my writing class!" Canard explained to Wildwing.

"Uh, nice to meet you." Wing said, not forgetting his manners.

"An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." came Grin's response. Now Wildwing had the same look on his face as Anna did. Nosedive just grinned like a fool. He already really liked this duck.

"That's uh... that's just how he says it's nice to meet you too." Canard translated. He turned back to Grin.

"Grin, I'm actually glad I found you." Canard said, "we might need your help. We're the new resistance. I'm organizing a group of special forces to go in and take out Dragaunus... we could really use a duck with your skill." Canard said briefly what he told Wildwing before.

"Dragaunus is a tyrant and a fiend." Grin said, "The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

Everyone looked at him for a second and Grin sighed.

"Of course, I will help," he said simply.

"Woohoo!" Nosedive cheered, "now that I understood!" he said, high fiving Anna. She smiled at him before glancing back at Canard.

"Alright, let's get going." she ordered, taking off in the direction they had been heading before running into Grin. "the warehouse is literally around this..." she rounded the corner and stopped. Canard bumped into her. "corner." she muttered softly, seeing the corner the warehouse was supposed to be on.

The warehouse lay in shambles. Some crates were still stacked in the debris that she could see, and Canard looked down.

"I'm sorry, Annie. I know-"

"shush," she ordered, cutting Canard off as she crawled over the debris.

"Anna, he's not here anymore." Canard insisted. "He'll have already moved on by now, you'll never find him." he insisted.

"He didn't live in the warehouse, Canard," she said, reaching the back-left corner. She pulled some tin roofing away from the corner and found exactly what she was looking for. She lifted the trap door and turned back to Canard, "he lived beneath it."

She held the door open as the group jumped down before she followed them.

"Um, Anna?" Nosedive said in the darkness.

"Oh, shut up." came the remark as her flashlight clicked on. Once again, they were in a tunnel underground. It wasn't very long though, and they only walked about ten feet before coming up to a large metal door.

Anna tried the door, trying to shove it open. It was locked from the inside.

* * *

Everyone stopped what they were doing as a jiggling at the main door was heard. Then, a knock was heard, loud and crisp.

"What the hell?" Darren's eyebrow raised as he turned to Duke's room.

"Are we missing anybody?" Jake asked from where he stood next to his sister. Darren shook his head, nodding to Duke's room. "Go get Duke," he ordered. Jake ran off to do what was asked.

Duke was out of his room in seconds, walking over to join Darren.

"What's going on? Who's at the door?" he asked. Darren shrugged. Duke drew his saber, heading for the door. Darren and Jake were right on his tail, just in case. Everyone seemed to hold their breath as Duke went over to the window, sliding it open. Duke sheathed his saber, putting it back on his shoulder. He slid the metal window shut and opened the door instantly.

"Anna!" he exclaimed as the female jumped into his arms. He took her into his arms, holding her close. Canard, Wildwing, Nosedive, and Grin piled into the door after her.

"Anna?" Jake asked from where he stood.

"Jake!" Nosedive and Anna exclaimed at the same time, hugging him. Jess pushed through the crowd, joining the group in a hug. Anna turned back to Duke, hugging him again.

"I missed you!" she admitted as he held her close once again.

"I missed you too, sweetheart. Glad to see the ankle's better," he commented. He met Darren's gaze and smirked at the other duck. Darren rolled his eyes playfully at Duke, knowing Duke's look had meant something along the lines of _see, I told you she was still alive!_

"It took for fucking ever to heal." she admitted, looking down at it. He smirked before he looked at her with worry.

"What?" she asked. He reached over to her arm, seeing blood seep through the gauze.

"What the hell happened?" he asked.

"It's just a scrape." she insisted.

"Scrape my ass. I can smell the singed feathers, Anna." he retorted.

"Darren..." Darren walked over, "run and get me the first aid kit." he said. Canard walked up behind her and looked at her arm too.

"It's really fine," she said, jerking her arm away from the two drakes.

"Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery." Grin said as he walked up.

"What?" she asked, eyeing him.

"These ducks care about you. Once you accept that and let them help, you can be healed." he clarified. She rolled her eyes, not fully understanding what the duck was getting at, but held her arm out anyways once Darren brought the first aid kit over. She gritted her teeth when Duke sprayed the anti-septic on it but still held her arm out as he bandaged it properly.

"There, happy?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks for asking Sweetheart." came the snide remark from Duke. "So, what are you doing down here? I'm guessing this isn't a social visit." he said, getting down to business. She sighed.

"No, it's not. We're forming a team to take out Dragaunus," she motioned to her and Canard, "and we were wondering if you'd like to join the resistance."


	21. Returning to Base

"Take out Dragaunus?" Jess asked behind Duke. Anna nodded.

"You bet your ass I'm in." she insisted.

"Jess, what are you doing?" Jake asked, pulling on her arm.

"I'm standing up to the monster that took over our planet. What are you doing?" she retorted, jerking away from her brother.

"Trying to stay alive. You should be doing the same." he muttered.

"You wanna stay alive, this is how you do it." Jess insisted, turning back to Anna.

Anna glanced at Canard and he sighed out before giving her a slight nod. The siblings hadn't said anything, but lately they really didn't need to speak to be able to communicate.

"Duke?" he whipped his head around to a female duck who had the same exact color of feathers as him. Her mane was long and black, and she had green eyes.

"What's up, Mia?" he asked.

"Are you really going to go with them?" she asked him timidly. He nodded.

"I've gotta do this, Mia. I've gotta help take that tyrant down once and for all." he insisted. She nodded, jumping into his arms in a hug.

"Be safe," she demanded. He nodded into her mane.

"I promise, kid," he said, pulling out of the hug. Another duck walked up at that moment. He looked just like Duke, just maybe five years younger. Duke hugged the younger drake as well.

"Take care of your sister." he ordered.

"Yes sir." came the response as they pulled apart.

Duke glanced over at Darren, and the two drakes looked at each other for a moment before instantaneously hugging.

"I'm sticking you in charge, Darren. Keep my brother and sister out of trouble, will ya?" he asked. Darren chuckled.

"That's gonna be a tall order. They take after you, remember?" Darren grinned. Duke rolled his eyes playfully at his best friend.

He turned back to Anna, Canard and their group. He wasn't sure exactly which Thunderbeak was in charge, though he had assumed Canard was.

"You ready?" Anna asked. Duke nodded. She glanced at Canard who nodded as well.

"Alright, let's head for the base," she said, rounding up her troops and heading out the door. Jake stood there for a second, watching his sister walk away with the group.

"Well, shit." he muttered, taking off out the door. He didn't want to fight, but lord knows he couldn't let his sister go without him.

* * *

Anna and Canard led the small group back towards the resistance base.

"Guess you're not going back to school anytime soon." Wildwing muttered with a smirk. He was trying to make light of the situation.

"I consider us lucky then!" Nosedive perked up with a grin. Canard shook his head at the teenager's comment, chuckling slightly.

"You've got a funny idea of luck." Canard muttered.

"Shush!" Anna suddenly rushed by them, leaning against the wall of a building. She peered out as the rest of the ducks leaned against the building next to her.

"What is it, sis?" Canard whispered, peering around her shoulder.

"Get back!" she hissed, shoving him back as a hunter drone stomped by.

"Annie?" he asked, unsure of his sister's next move. She peered back around the wall and sighed out.

"The way's congested," she explained.

"Can't we just, you know, go around?" Nosedive asked. Another drone walked by and they pressed back against the wall. She cocked her head sideways at him.

"Negative." she sighed out.

"What are we going to do?" Jake asked, his eyes betraying his worry.

"Canard, wasn't there a sewer entrance back there?" Anna asked suddenly, her head perking up. He nodded.

"Yeah, but the tunnel leading back to the base is collapsed." he reminded her. She waved her hand at him dismissively.

"Details, Canard. Details," she muttered as they heard a hunter drone approaching their alley. She motioned for them to follow her back.

"You have a plan," Duke said, falling into step with her as they retraced their steps back to the entrance of the sewer. She lifted the lid off the hole and looked back at him.

"I might," she said, motioning for him to jump down. The others followed him, and Anna was the last one, closing the lid behind her.

"Okay, can someone at least turn on a light or something?" Nosedive muttered in the new darkness. The flick of a match was heard, and a tiny flame lit up the ducks in the sewer. Duke held the match closer to Anna as she rummaged in her pack for a flashlight. Once she flicked the flashlight on, Duke waved the match out.

"Canard." Anna beckoned him over. He knew what she wanted and turned around so she could get into his bag. She pulled out rolled-up blueprints. She opened them part of the way before glancing around her.

"Ah!" she found what she was looking for, turning Nosedive around.

"What?" he asked as he turned around. He realized what she was doing once he felt the paper on his back. She had been looking for a table.

"Alright..." she trailed off, looking around again. She saw Duke and pulled his arms, positioning him behind her, and sticking the flashlight in his hands. Knowing what she wanted, he moved in closer, pressing against her back with his body, shining the light on the blueprints. She fought the blush of feeling him against her. They had work to do.

Canard stood beside her as she traced her finger over the city sewer blueprints.

"Alright, this is where we are now," she said, pointing. She traced her finger to the right. "Here's the base." she tapped a section on Nosedive's back. "and, here's the tunnel that's collapsed." she sighed, tracing an imaginary "x" over a tunnel. "So..." she trailed off, her eyes scanning over the blue map.

"What about this one?" Wildwing pointed from behind her. It went down, but then curved and traveled right. She studied the tunnel for a moment before nodding, a smile creeping across her face.

"Let's give it a shot, Wing." she agreed, glancing towards Canard.

"Let's do it." he agreed, knowing she was searching for his input.

He pulled out his own flashlight, pointing it down the tunnel they'd need to take. Anna waited for the others to follow him as she took up the back of the pack with her own flashlight.

The ducks finally made it back to the base. Anna hadn't been kidding. Not many ducks sat around. Maybe 20, 30 at the most.

Once they reached the base, Trent walked up, wrapping Anna up in his arms and pulling her into a long, deep kiss.

Nosedive rolled his eyes and walked away with Grin, Jake, and Jess to get some chow while Wildwing and Duke stared wide eyed. Trent wrapped an arm around her as they both walked away. Once they were gone, Wildwing leaned toward Canard.

"She's still with him?" he asked. Duke had had the same question.

"At least he's not beating her anymore." Canard muttered back.

"Beating!" Duke suddenly angered. Canard sighed out.

"It's okay, my fist had a talk with him," he muttered.

"why stay with him if he was-"

"I don't know. But he stopped drinking and he hasn't hit her since."

"It better stay that way, for his sake." Duke glared in the direction the two had disappeared. Canard nodded beside him.

* * *

Trent and Anna laid in bed, both of them naked beneath the covers. He held her in his arms while she played with his hand, tracing the lines in it.

"Anna, I love you." He murmured into her hair, "you know that, right?" he tried.

"Of course, I do." She said, scooting closer into his chest.

"And you love me, right?" he tried. She avoided his gaze.

"of course," she said, knowing it's what he wanted to hear. Luckily, that seemed good enough for him as he nuzzled closer into her. Her mind wandered, however, to a certain ex-thief. He was finally here, and she could tell she still had feelings for him. She was also lying in another man's arms while thinking of the certain ex-thief.


	22. Training

**_Trigger Warning! There will be a rape scene in this chapter... I apologize in advance and also, once again, have never really written anything like this before so, you know, cut me some slack! You've been warned!_**

* * *

_August 1996_

Canard worked day and night on his plan to take down the master tower. Anna helped him with the plans, and he knew she was preparing to go into the tower with him. He also knew he couldn't let her. If anything happened to him, she needed to be here to be able to lead the next resistance if they failed. They needed his second in command to be there to continue fighting the tyrant. Still, he hadn't quite gotten around to telling her yet.

Instead, he had been keeping himself and her busy training the ducks that had been chosen for the mission. They were training one on one, making sure the team would be ready for anything that might happen while in the tower.

Thus far today, Canard had worked with Mallory and Grin while Anna had worked with Nosedive and Tanya.

Now, Canard was in the training room with Wildwing while Anna was in the training room with Duke.

"So, when are you gonna tell Anna?" Wildwing said behind the shield as pucks bounced off here and there. Canard then sat the puck launcher down, motioning for Wildwing to step a little closer to him. He pressed a button on a remote and hunter drones appeared around Wildwing. Canard stood behind him, the remote in his hand just in case his friend couldn't handle himself.

"I don't know yet." Canard admitted as Wildwing began to fire upon the drones.

"You've gotta tell her soon. If she thinks..." Wildwing stopped for a second, doing a tuck and roll before coming up behind the hunter drone that had gotten too close for his comfort and then blasting the hunter drone to bits. He turned back around to another, "If she thinks she's going to the master tower, and you tell her no-"

"I have explained to her that as my second in command, she can't go everywhere with me."

"Well yeah, but how many times have you gone up one on one against Dragaunus?" Wildwing asked, turning back to glance at his friend with a knowing look, before dropping to his knees and sliding beneath a hunter drone, blasting a puck at it destroying it. Wildwing now stood around a pile of debris.

"None." Canard muttered, beckoning Wildwing over to him, "Come on, let's spar." he said, readying his stance for his best friend. Wildwing followed suit as they started to circle each other.

"Canard, you've gotta tell her before it's too late, and you hurt her." Wildwing said. Canard lunged at him, not because of what he said but for sparring.

"Wildwing, it's a lot harder than you'd think." Canard's voice was strained as the two drakes wrestled.

"I know it's easier said than done, but you've just gotta treat it like ripping a Band-Aid off." Wildwing's voice was just as strained. With that, the conversation was over as they finished their training session.

* * *

Anna stood across from Duke, and he smirked at her. For the last month, Canard had been working with Duke, Nosedive, and Tanya while Anna had been working with Wildwing, Mallory, and Grin. Today Canard had made the switch, knowing Anna and he trained differently. He wanted both of them to have about a month to work with everybody that was going to the tower.

"Listen, sweetheart. I'm not sure there's much you'll be able to-" he was cut off as she reached for her puck blaster, firing at him. He acted quickly, activating his saber and batting the puck away from him. She was pleased. That's exactly what he was supposed to do and honestly, she had no idea what she would have done had he not acted so quickly.

"Jeez, sweetheart. trying to take the rest of my beak off?" he muttered.

"Why couldn't you have acted that fast the night Falcone attacked you?" she retorted, smirking at him.

"Sorry. I found myself distracted by an angel that night." came the charming remark. She rolled her eyes at him, drawing her blade. He blocked her and through the crossed blades, she smiled at him.

"Alright, Duke L'Orange, let's just see what you're really made of." she provoked, and soon they were circling the room, both having very good hits at each other, but also being able to block said hits. Finally, both fairly out of breath, they stopped. Anna deactivated her saber and Duke did the same. He felt a crazy adrenaline rush. He hadn't actually been able to spar with another blade in a while since it wasn't really Canard's specialty.

"Alright, Sweetheart. What's next?" he asked. She smirked, removing her puck launcher and saber and setting them on the ground. She widened her stance, and put her fists up, beckoning him to come at her.

"Look," he walked over closer to her, "I'm not gonna fight a girl." He went to put a hand on her shoulder, but she grabbed it, flipping him over and onto his back. He gaped at her, and she just smiled at him.

"Didn't seem to stop you a few minutes ago." she shot back at him. He rolled his eyes before doing a handspring to come back to a standing position. He turned around to face her.

"Alright," he muttered, removing his own puck launcher and saber from his person, "but don't go crying to your brother when I beat you," he smirked. She smirked right back, dodging his kick.

Soon, they were going back and forth, throwing kicks and punches. Anna could tell he was holding back.

"Do you think saurians will hold back?" she finally asked him. He stared at her hard.

"Anna, I don't wanna hurt you." he tried. She swung a right hook, catching him on the side of the face. It caught him off guard and he just looked back up at her, a little shocked.

"There, I hurt you. Now come on, get your payback." she tried. He growled playfully, rushing at her. She hadn't expected it and he grabbed her by the waist, pinning her down to the ground. He got her waist under his, so her lower body was completely immobile. He then grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head. She squirmed beneath him but wasn't able to do anything. She looked up at him in defeat.

"There. Happy, sweetheart?" he asked. She smiled up at him, forgetting about the training session. Her eyes searched the features of his face, and Duke seemed to do the same. He leaned down closer to her and she felt herself gravitating towards him, although she was pinned.

"Duke." her voice seemed to bring him back to his senses and he stopped, instead swinging his leg around to get off of her. She sat up and brought a knee up, leaning on it and looking at him. He sat next to her and cleared his throat, as if he was going to say something. She cut him off, smiling.

"Good session." she said, patting his shoulder. He smiled at her and she leaned into his side, looking up at the training room's ceiling.

"What do you think the raid on Dragaunus' headquarters is gonna be like?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"Honestly, sweetheart. I'm a little scared," he admitted. She turned and stared at him hard, and he shrunk back.

"What, a hardened ex-criminal can't admit he's scared?"

"No... I just-" she cut herself off, "I just never thought I'd hear you ever admit to such a thing." she said.

"What, you're not scared?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"No, the only thing I'm scared of right now, is losing my brother," she informed, standing up. She held out her hand, helping him up.

"Come on, let's go get Wing and Canard and get some chow." she said as they both walked for the door.

* * *

After eating, Anna made her way to her bunk. Upon opening it, she was shocked to see an 18-pack sitting on the ground by Trent's side of the bed. She couldn't tell how many he'd drank, but she could tell he was pretty far gone.

"Trent, what the hell?" she asked, seeing him sitting there.

"Oh, you've finally come back after cheating on me," he slurred.

"What?" she asked, looking taken aback.

"Oh, don't play innocent. I saw you and the ex-thief," Anna cocked her head at him, then remembered there was a control room where you could see the practice area that Duke and Anna had been in. Trent must have walked into the control room while they were in there. He got up off the bed, walking toward her.

"Yeah, he and I were training. For the mission," she tried.

"I saw the way you looked at him," he walked forward, moving his hand up. She flinched but he just placed his hand on her cheek, "it's the way I wish you'd look at me," he looked sad before suddenly reaching his hand back and slapping her across the face.

"Trent, that's it!" she snapped, kicking him backward. He landed on his butt, his beer flying everywhere.

"You spilled my drink!" he snapped, hopping back up.

"I think you owe me," he got close to her, holding her close to him, wrapping one hand around her head. She pushed back against him, but it seemed futile as he pulled her into him, kissing her roughly.

"You're my girl, Anna. Not his, and not anybody else's. Mine." He slurred, spinning her around and tossing her. She landed on the bed and looked back up to watch him pounce on her.

"Trent-"

"Shut up!" he snapped, slapping her across the face.

"Trent, stop!" she growled as he ripped her pants off aggressively.

She was met with a fist to the face as her pants flew across the room. He ripped off his own before grabbing both her hands, holding them above her head with one hand.

"Trent, I don't want to do this!" she snapped.

His hand dropped down, his fingers playing around her clitoris. It was moist down there and he smirked up at her.

"your body says differently," he smirked, biting her neck.

"Trent, I don't care! _**I'm**_ saying no!" she snapped as she felt his throbbing member against her thigh.

"too late, Anna." He said. She was about to ask before suddenly, she felt him enter her. She moaned instinctively but shoved on him.

"No, stop!" she ordered but he ignored her, pushing deeper and deeper inside her.

"You're a sexy little tease, Anna. You know that?" he asked into her neck, moving rhythmically inside her. Tears ran down her face as his hands held her arms down. She had no power as he got his way.

* * *

Anna slowly sat up after Trent had fallen asleep. She rubbed her head and could feel a knot forming where Trent had hit her good.

She slipped on a pair of black sweats and a black sweatshirt before moving out of the door. Once outside, she moved for the rooftop she'd climb when she needed to think.

"Hey sweetheart," she smiled before tears entered her eyes. Duke moved to sit by her.

"Anna?" he asked when she wouldn't look at him.

She turned to look at him and the moonlight shined on a black eye with a cut on her eyebrow. Blood had trickled down and dried on her face.

"Anna, what happened?" he asked. She sniffed a little.

"Trent started drinking again," she murmured.

"Oh sweetheart," he said, pulling her into him in a hug. She accepted his embrace.

"A real man doesn't hit a woman," he murmured into her hair, "no matter if he'd been drinking or not,"

"I know," she nodded against his chest, "I should have known with the way he acted at the Christmas party,"

"So why are you with him?" he asked.

"He was doing better. When he wasn't drinking, he was actually decent," she glanced back out at the city, "when I went back to our room, I actually had some exciting news for him. But then, I saw he was drinking,"

"If he was doing so good and had quit… what started him back up?" Duke asked.

"He saw you and me today in the training room. Got jealous for some stupid reason," she murmured.

"What was the exciting news?" Duke asked, tuning into what she had said to him a second ago.

"it's terrifying now," she admitted, "because I know. I know now that I can't be with Trent. Not with the way he acts when he's drinking. He's unpredictable and there's no telling when he might relapse, and I can't get him to stop."

"What's the news?" Duke pushed, getting worried.

"Duke, I'm… I'm pregnant."


	23. Recovery

Duke wrapped his coat around Anna as it started to rain, driving them inside. Dripping wet, they made their way to Canard's bunk.

Canard opened the door sleepy-eyed.

"Anna?" he wondered, looking confused between the two ducks that stood in front of him.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" she asked in a quiet voice. Canard seemed to wake up as he studied his sister.

"Anna," Canard tilted her head up to look at her and he looked back up at Duke, glaring.

"Did he hit her again?" he demanded.

Duke only nodded.

"I'm gonna kill him," Canard went back into his room for a second before re-emerging with a gun.

"Wait, Canard," Anna instantly grabbed his arm.

"Don't do anything stupid, Canard," Duke added as they both followed Canard down the hall to Anna's room.

"I'm not gonna do anything stupid. I'm just gonna walk in the room, step on his neck and shoot him in the head," Canard growled.

"Canard, don't!" Anna growled, grabbing his arm as the door to their room opened.

"Trent!" Canard bellowed and the drake flipped up and out of bed. Trent was naked, so he had pulled the blanket with him. Canard stood over Trent, aiming the gun at him, and Trent backed up against the wall, cowering.

"Get the fuck out of this room! And take your shit with you!" he growled, cocking the gun.

"But, but-"

Canard pulled the gun back and whipped Trent across the face. Trent cried out in pain.

"Now, and don't you dare come near my sister ever again!" Canard snapped.

Trent nodded, grabbing a small pile of clothes and running for the door.

"You're done with him," Canard growled, turning back to face Anna. She nodded.

"100% Can," she promised. Canard looked back at Duke before sighing and walking back down the hall.

"That was scary," Duke commented, walking with Anna into her room.

"I've never seen him that mad," she added, sitting down on the bed.

"I think it's been building up. He wasn't too thrilled with the last couple of times Trent hit ya."

"I kept thinking he could change," Anna admitted, pulling her knees up and resting her elbows on them, running her hands through her hair. The sleeves on her sweatshirt fell down and Duke reached over, grabbing one of her hands. He pulled her sleeves up, examining her arm where bruises had begun to form.

"Did he pin ya down?" Duke asked, his gaze never leaving her arm. She ripped her arm from him, pulling the sleeve back down hastily. She stared at the floor, not looking at him.

"Anna?" he tried, leaning forward to try to catch her gaze. She glanced back at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"he was drunk," she murmured, pulling her knees closer to her chest.

"Anna," Duke knelt down in front of her, grabbing her hands, "did he make you do something you didn't want to do?" Duke had a feeling he knew what had happened. Anna sniffed, choked on a sob and then started crying. Duke instantly pulled her into a hug. She gripped onto him, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I... I didn't want to, but Trent... said I owed him for spilling his drink," she sniffed.

"His drink?" Duke asked, "he gets a drink spilled and thinks that justifies taking advantage of ya?" he asked, anger obviously showing on his face.

"Duke, please. It's over with him, it's done with. It's already been decided I'm not seeing him again," she grabbed onto his arm, meeting his gaze, "Please, Duke, just drop it." tears were still running down her face. He sighed, pulling her back into him, resting his head on hers.

"I can't stand knowing he did that ya, Anna." he murmured into her hair.

"Don't let Canard find out," Anna said, glancing up, "if he finds out, then he'll really kill Trent and then we'll have to go bury him and I don't feel like digging," she smiled up at him and partly laughed through a sob. He smiled, letting out a light chuckle as he rubbed her shoulder.

"Get some rest, Angel. We got more training tomorrow," he stood up, heading for the door as Anna scooted herself back into bed.

"Hey Duke?" she asked. He turned around, looking back at her.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Would you… would you stay with me for a while?" she asked. He nodded, moving to the other side of the bed. He kicked his boots off and sat in the bed while she rolled over, so she was leaning against his chest. He wrapped an arm around her, brushing her shoulder gently with his thumb.

"Duke, I'm scared," she murmured.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. He ain't gonna hurt ya anymore," he promised.

"Not that," she admitted, "what about the baby?" she asked.

He smiled down at her, kissing her forehead, "we'll get through it, Anna. Together," he promised.

_Together? _She thought, and her heart warmed at this.

"How about, after we take down Dragaunus next month, I'll help ya work up the courage to tell your brother," he tried.

"You'd do that?" she asked.

"Cross my heart," he promised, smiling, "until then, it'll be our little secret. Besides, I think it'd be a nice surprise. Take down Dragaunus and then announce a new member of the family? If that doesn't qualify as a good day, I don't know what would," he encouraged.

"But, it's Trent's baby," she murmured, "I can't imagine Canard getting excited for that,"

"You can't judge a child by who their father is," Duke tried, pain showing in his eyes.

"But what if it grows up to be like him," she argued.

"he won't," Duke promised, "because he'll have you for a mother," he smiled down at her.

She smiled lovingly at him before reaching up and kissing him on the cheek.

"Thanks, Duke. I don't know what I'd do without you."

* * *

The next day, Duke and Anna walked to the mess hall to grab some food together. They sat by Wildwing and Canard who were already there.

Their meal was silent, very unusual as the four normally had lots to discuss, even if it was just small talk. As they finished up their meal, Canard finally spoke.

"hey guys, can I get a second with my sister?" Duke looked confused but Wildwing nodded, showing he knew what the conversation was about. Duke followed Wildwing's lead, leaving the siblings sitting alone.

"What's up?" she asked.

"You uh…" he seemed to have trouble finding his words for a second, "you can't really go… to Dragaunus' headquarters." He avoided her gaze.

"Why the fuck not?" she demanded angrily.

"Because Annie. You're my second in command-"

"and as your second in command, I am your backup!" she argued, cutting him off.

"Exactly!" he snapped, "if something happens to the team in the tower… if we get captured or if something happens to me-"

"nothing's going to happen to you, Canard," she hissed.

"kiddo-"

"Canard, you're not going in there without me. If anything happened to you," she looked away, feeling the tears enter her eyes, "I'd never forgive myself,"

He sighed out, rubbing the back of his neck. He'd known this wasn't going to be an easy conversation.

"kiddo, as my second in command it's your duty-"

"well maybe I don't want to be your second in command anymore!" she growled, "maybe I wanna be the fifth, or sixth in command. Whatever number lets me go to Dragaunus' headquarters!"

"Anna, my decision is final," he snapped, giving her his "big brother" stare.

"Fine," she stood up from the table, "so is mine," she glared, walking quickly out of the mess hall.

Canard glanced around, realizing all eyes were on him.

"What the hell are you all looking at?" he murmured, standing up and walking away as well.

* * *

Anna was messing with shit in her room, working out a plan to follow her brother to the tower against his wishes.

As she leaned over her desk, a knock was heard on her door.

"Go away, Canard!" she growled.

"It's me." she froze, hearing Trent's voice. She stood up straight, frozen, as she stared at the door.

"Please let me in. I need to talk to you." came the muffled plea.

"There's nothing to talk about!" she insisted.

"Anna, please?" came the plea.

She walked over to the door, sliding it open. She leaned against her doorway.

"What do you want? Afraid you missed a spot? Go ahead, hit me again!" she growled at him.

"Anna, please. There's no excuse for what I did, and I know that, but-"

"Exactly, there's no excuse!" she snapped, "now get the fuck out," she ordered, going to shut the door. He held his arm in front of it, activating the safety feature and causing it to stay open.

"Not until we talk about this!" he insisted.

"Trent, leave!" she growled. He tried shoving his way inside.

"Anna-"

"I'd listen to her if I was you." Both ducks were unaware of the grey duck that had walked up on the scene.

"What do you want!" Trent growled at him.

"I came to check on my friend. Figured I'd see how she was doing after being beat on by a low life asshole." Duke shot at him.

"Shove off Duke, this isn't your business!" Trent sneered. Duke stepped closer to Trent, beak to beak.

"I'm making it my business." Duke's voice was low and threatening and Trent shrank back slightly.

He looked back at Anna before turning around to Duke.

"Oh, I see. She doesn't want to talk to me because she was busy being a little _**slut **_with you." Trent concluded. Before he could say any more, Duke reached back and punched him right between the eyes.

"Been holding that in for a while," he muttered, shaking his hand a little.

Trent fell back, hitting the floor with a thud. Anna's eyes went wide as she glanced back at Duke. Duke looked back at her, coming over and pulling her into a hug. She fell into him.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he muttered into her mane. She just burrowed deeper into him, never wanting him to let her go.

"he had no right to do that to ya." he added, rubbing her back.

Trent sat up, looking over to the two ducks.

"I knew it!" he proclaimed from where he sat. Duke let go of Anna, turning back to Trent. Anna stood behind Duke, not entirely sure of what he planned to do.

"I'm beginning to wonder…" Duke started, eyeballing Trent, "you've been so worried about Anna cheating on ya, even going so far as to drink and beat her up because you were worried, she was cheating,"

"So? What's your point?" Trent asked, glaring.

"How long have you been cheating on her?" Duke asked suddenly. Trent looked away.

"That's a mighty big accusation," Trent muttered.

"I just know that usually when someone's cheating, they assume they're being cheated on. I'm just filling in the blanks," Duke explained.

"Were you cheating?" Anna asked, peering around Duke's side. Trent avoided her gaze.

"You came here to talk, so talk. And I want the truth, Trent. Were you?" she asked, stepping in front of Duke. Trent stood up, face to face with her.

"Fine," he muttered, "I… I'd get worried you were cheating so… so I'd go out and do what I thought you were doing," he defended. Tears brimmed her eyes, but she maintained her cool.

"Since when?" she asked, looking flabbergasted.

"Before the Christmas party," he admitted. Her eyes widened, but she remained calm.

"How many?" she asked.

"What?" he asked suddenly.

"How many girls!" it came out as a yell and Duke put a hand on her shoulder, which stopped her from lunging at Trent.

"I don't… I don't remember." He admitted.

Anna's eyes widened as she took a step back from him.

"Get out of here, Trent," she demanded.

"What, Annie can't handle the truth now?" Trent asked suddenly. Duke gave him a hard look and stepped towards him. Trent jumped back, bumping into the wall.

"I'd listen to her if I was you," Duke repeated what he had said before, and Trent shrunk back. He definitely didn't want a repeat from before. He took his leave, walking down the hall.

Anna and Duke walked into her room, but as the door started to close, they heard Trent's voice again.

"Can I at least get my iQuack back?" came the call. Anna glared at nothing, pulling back a drawer hard and grabbing the device out of it. She walked to the door, stepped out into the hallway and chucked the device at Trent. Duke was still standing in the room, so he didn't see Trent. But he heard the slap of the device against Trent followed by his protesting "Owe!".

Anna turned in a huff, walking back into the room, the door shutting behind her. Her body was shaking with anger, and tears brimmed her eyes.

"Oh, sweetheart." Duke shook his head, opening his arms to her as he sat down on the bed. Anna started crying as she sat beside him, accepting his embrace. "I'm so sorry, angel," he said, brushing her mane out of her face.

"How could I be so stupid?" she cried into Duke's shoulder. He stopped, leaning her out to look at him.

"Stupid?" he raised an eyebrow, "You aren't stupid, Anna. He was the stupid one."

"But he was beating me, and I still stayed with him. He was cheating behind my back this whole time and I didn't even know. When he wasn't here when I'd get back, I'd just consider myself lucky he wasn't here and drinking. I was just happy I wasn't getting beat on. The thought never even occurred to me he was out there sleeping with someone else."

"I know it's hard, knowing you gave something you're all and finding out you weren't getting the same commitment back. But you just gotta look forward," he tilted his head at her, "and between you and me, you're better off."

"I fully agree," she said, burying herself further into his side. His hand traced against her shoulder as they sat there for a moment.

"Duke," she glanced up at him and he looked down at her. They sat there for a moment, lost in each other's eyes. He leaned down toward her before a knock was heard at the door.

"What the fuck does he want now?" Duke asked, standing up.

"Anna?" Nosedive's voice was heard on the other side. Anna flipped open the door quickly.

"Nosedive!" she exclaimed, hugging him immediately.

"I saw Trent storming away from here and I wanted to make sure he-"

"he didn't touch me," she promised, smiling at him, "Duke was with me and helped me get rid of him," she said, putting Duke on the spot.

Nosedive nodded for a second, showing no emotion on his face.

"Thanks for looking out for her, Duke. I've known her a long time and, well, she's kinda special to me," he smirked, shoving her playfully.

"awe shucks, Divey." She stuck her tongue out at him, shoving him back.

"Special Ed!" he corrected, giving her a noogie.

Duke shook his head at the kids, happy that Anna had the friends and family that she did. He was excited for her. After they took down Dragaunus, he knew she'd have the support system she needed to raise a baby as a single mother. To raise a baby without Trent in the picture. His face fell, as another thought occurred to him. _To raise a baby without him in the picture._ After the take down, he'd more than likely go back to the hood, and the hood was no place for Anna or a baby to be. They'd take down Dragaunus and he would walk out of her life forever.


	24. Prep for the Takedown

_September 1996 _

The training was complete. Anna had avoided talking to Canard for this past month, focusing on preparing her teammates… her friends… for the take down of Dragaunus. Finally, it was the night before and she sat in her room, checking her ammo and making sure she was fully prepared for tomorrow as well.

She'd gone over every possible outcome. Knowing her brother, he'd have eyes on her. If she attempted to follow them after they left, she was almost positive Miles or Henry would stop her. She knew Canard would prepare for that much. So, knowing her brother would most likely wake at 0600, she had her own alarm set for 0400. She'd get there almost two or three hours before the rest of her team did. She'd go in and scout the place out and then report back to her brother when she met up with them. And, since she'd already be there, he'd let her go with them. Her plan was fool proof.

A knock sounded at the door and she stood up, going over.

Duke stood there.

"Hey sweetheart," he greeted.

"What's up?" she asked, leaning on her desk.

"I just wanted to check up on ya," he murmured, "I know Canard kind of benched you for tomorrow."

"he shouldn't have!" she suddenly got angry, "how am I supposed to watch his back from here?" she asked.

"I think the point is to keep you as far away from danger as possible," he tried.

"I don't care. He goes up there and gets himself killed; I'll have nothing left. Nobody left, especially since he's taking Dive, Wildwing and…" she trailed off for a second, "and you."

He looked surprised to be included in the group she just named. Tears entered her eyes and he rushed forward, pulling her into him.

"Anna, sweetheart. We'll be fine," he tried.

"you can't know that. We've never gone up against Dragaunus like this. Canard has planned, yes, but he's still spit balling."

"Yes, but regardless, he's still a great leader," Duke tried, "and you know that. You know that no matter what happens tomorrow, your brother will work his ass off to take out Dragaunus and get us all out of there safely."

"I know. I just wanted to be there to make sure he got himself out safely too,"

"I'll do it," Duke volunteered. She shook her head at him, "I'm serious, Anna," he said, grabbing her hands in his. She looked back up at him.

"You'd bring my brother back?" she asked.

"Or die trying," he promised.

"I don't want that either," she argued, "I just want everyone to survive tomorrow. Everyone comes home."

"I'll do my best," he promised, pulling her back into him. He rubbed her hair, resting his chin on her head. His reassurance helped, but it still wasn't good enough. Her mind had already been made up.

* * *

Anna woke to her alarm going off. She sighed, hitting the button to turn it off. It was 4 in the morning.

She threw her already packed backpack on, holstered her puck launcher and strapped her saber to her right shoulder.

She opened the door and peaked out. Nobody was around and she sighed with relief, heading off towards the aerowing. She snuck on board, grabbed one of the duck cycles from the cargo bay, and walked the duck cycle down the sewers. There was an opening not too far from the base that she could fit the duck cycle through and get out.

Once outside, she checked her compass, making sure she was facing the right way. Canard had said, in that meeting, that the base was just north from here. Looking out, she couldn't see anything, but she knew there was an invisibility field to deal with. She just hoped she'd drive straight enough to run into it rather than racing right past it. She took a breath, starting up the duck cycle. She looked back to the base and sighed.

"he's not gonna be happy with me." she muttered before kicking the bike into gear and taking off. She narrowed her eyes, "but he'll thank me later!"

* * *

Canard woke up around 0630 and finally figured it was time to get up. Kim was still lying beside him, and he smiled, kissing her bare shoulder. She shifted under his touch and she turned to look at him.

"Don't worry, I'm not heading out yet." he promised, and she seemed to calm back down, sinking back into the sheets. He brushed her bangs out of her face and she smiled.

"I don't want you to go." she finally said with a sleepy tone to her voice.

"I know, Kimmy. But I've gotta." he insisted. She nodded.

"I know. Just, come back to me in one piece." she insisted. He nodded.

"I promise, Kimmy cub." he said, kissing her forehead. She craned her neck up, and their beaks met in a tender loving kiss.

"I love you Canard." she whispered, settling back into her pillow.

"I love you too, Kim." came his reply. He laid there for a minute, watching her fall back asleep before getting up and getting ready for the day.

As Canard walked down the hall, he found himself stopping beside Anna's door. He sighed out, knocking. No answer.

"Come on, Annie," he called, knocking again. Duke walked up just then, and Canard gave him a defeated look.

"I don't blame her for not answering." he muttered to Duke. Duke's eyebrows creased.

"she just wants to watch your back," Duke explained.

"I know that, but I can't…" Canard sighed out, "I can't throw her out of the frying pan right into the fire. I wish I could make her understand I'm only trying to protect her."

"She gets it, Canard. She's just trying to protect you too,"

"I'm the older sibling," Canard argued, "Dad would want me to protect her over myself,"

Duke looked down, knowing Canard made sense in his own way. Duke then had a thought.

"What?" Canard asked, having seen the look.

"I came to talk to Anna last night," he looked like he was processing something, "she had a packed bag on the desk..." Duke trailed off, a concerned look on his face. Canard looked at him funny before glancing back at the door. He began pounding louder on the door.

"Anna!" he yelled. Still no answer. He punched in the override code to unlock the door and both his and Duke's jaws dropped when they realized Anna was gone.

"Shit… she-" Duke started.

"Yeah, she went to the tower" Canard confirmed, flipping his comm open.

* * *

Anna had her hands tied behind her back, and she grunted as she flew back, hitting the wall. Dragaunus came up on her, picking her up by her shirt.

"I won't ask again. Where is the resistance base!" he demanded. She spat some blood from her beak and glared at him.

"Like I'd ever tell you," she muttered with a weak tone to her voice. He growled, tossing her back down to the ground.

"Siege get her in a talking mood." he called his second in command over and Siege growled, a grin to his face.

"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this." he muttered, approaching Anna. Her comm beeped on her wrist, and she cursed.

"What is that?" Dragaunus turned back, turning Anna around.

"Looks like a communicator." Siege muttered.

"Good," Dragaunus muttered.

"What?" Siege asked, a look of surprise on his face.

"This is Anna Thunderbeak, sister to the leader of the resistance. If Canard is trying to contact her..." he trailed off, giving Siege a knowing look.

"he'll come looking for her." Siege put two and two together and Dragaunus nodded, glancing back at Anna. She glared at him.

* * *

"Fuck." Canard muttered after trying to get through to Anna's comm for the 3rd time. He slapped his comm shut glancing back at Duke.

"why isn't she answering?" Duke asked.

"Well, she's either still pissed at me and avoiding answering or…" he trailed off.

"She's been captured," Duke finished for him. Canard had a worried look on his face as he opened his comm back up. Wildwing's face appeared on the screen. He looked a little groggy.

"Canard? What time is it? Did I sleep in?" Wildwing's sleepiness was replaced by adrenaline in thinking he must have overslept.

"No, but we're leaving now." Canard informed.

"Why, what's going on?" Wildwing could hear the weariness in Canard's voice.

"Anna's gone. I think she might have gone after Dragaunus by herself." he informed.

"Shit." Wildwing muttered, "alright, alright. Dive and I will meet you at the aerowing."

"Thanks, Wing." Canard shut his comm looking back at Duke who just got off his own communicator with Tanya.

"I'll contact Mallory and you'll contact Grin?" Canard asked, beginning to walk towards the aerowing.

"Already on it." Duke said, opening up his comm again.


	25. Dragaunus' Headquarters

The aerowing was loaded up with Squad A before even 20 minutes had passed. They all geared up and Nosedive let out a cheer.

"Slammin' gear Canard," he said, twirling the puck launcher around on his finger.

"Where'd you get the cool set of wings, Canard?" Wildwing asked, coming up to buckle in next to Canard.

"It's the last of the military's aerowings. We managed to hide it when the monitor towers attacked." Canard said as the jet rose up out of the ground.

"Now, let's pay Dragaunus a little visit," he said, pushing the throttle forward and allowing the jet to shoot off in the right direction.

He glanced back at his team after they had been in the air for a while.

"The monitor towers are controlled by a computer in Dragaunus' headquarters. That's our target," he announced.

"Yeah, but nobody's ever seen Dragaunus' headquarters!" Duke exclaimed. Canard pulled the mask from his pack, putting it on.

"I have," he said, activating it. "Now prepare yourselves, we're almost there."

"Here?" Mallory looked out the window, gesturing, "we're twenty klicks from nowhere!" she exclaimed.

"The master tower is surrounded by an invisibility shield, Dragaunus' cloak of darkness." Canard informed, seeing the tower clearly through the mask, "and we're about to pass through it." he announced as the master tower suddenly came into view for the rest of the ducks.

"Dragaunus' headquarters!" Wildwing exclaimed from his spot.

Canard landed the aerowing and everyone piled out, heading towards the base of the tower.

"shit." Canard muttered from his spot and everyone came to see what he was looking at. A single duck cycle sat at the base of the tower.

Duke went up, putting a hand on the side of the engine.

"It's cold," he informed.

"She's been here a while." Canard concluded, looking back at his team. They all looked at him as if he was a wounded puppy and he hated it.

"Nosedive, grab the duck cycle and load it up into the aerowing." Canard ordered. Nosedive obliged, happy that Canard was letting him do stuff. He pushed the duck cycle into the aerowing and then turned around to see the door closing on him.

"Yo, what about me!" he shouted.

"Be a team player, baby bro. Somebody's gotta watch the ship!" Wildwing called up.

"I think I just got the short end of the hockey stick!" Nosedive shouted as the door slammed in his face.

"Come on, if Anna's been here a while, she might already be engaging Dragaunus. She'll need back up." Canard said as they entered the tower.

_Or she might have gotten herself captured_. Duke didn't say it out loud for Canard's sake. He knew Canard was trying to stay positive.

They rounded a corner and Canard stopped for a moment.

"The master computer is heavily fortified," he informed them before heading off down a corridor. It wasn't long before they reached a huge, heavy, thick door that blocked their way.

"Grin, you're on." Canard turned around, looking at the duck before pointing back at the door. Grin walked forward, spread his legs apart evenly and placed his hands in the cracks of the door.

"Mind, over metal," he muttered as he pulled the door apart with all his might. Everyone, besides Canard, looked in awe at what the giant duck had just accomplished.

"There it is. The master computer." Canard announced as the ducks walked into the room.

"Yeah, I saw this place on the cover of better homes and supervillains," Duke muttered.

"Tanya, take Mallory and shut it down." Canard ordered. Tanya and Mallory nodded, running off in the direction of the supercomputer.

"Tanya, I've gotta warn ya. Machines and I don't get along too well." they heard Mallory warn. The ducks moved to continue down the corridor when Wildwing stopped Canard.

"Canard, these guys all have special skills, but what am I doing here?" Wildwing asked, arching his eyebrow.

"You're gonna draw Dragaunus out, so we can jump him." Canard informed.

"Why me?!" Wildwing exclaimed.

"Because you're the best goalie I know. You'll be able to take anything Dragaunus can throw at ya."

"Did I mention I'm half-chicken." Wildwing said, a look of fear coming over his face.

* * *

Anna lay in the corner. Scratches from Dragaunus and Siege appeared all over her body. Bruises were forming here and there and her legs were so weak, she couldn't move. She felt warm liquid pooling up beneath her and knew she was lying in her own blood. Her stomach hurt, and she knew one of them had hit her hard in the stomach. So hard she was worried about the baby and any damage they might have caused to it. Siege had been relentless, but she'd rather die than give up her team's location. She fidgeted, trying to reach up her sleeve but failing miserably.

"They've entered the main corridor, my lord," Siege informed, tapping some keys on the keyboard as he looked at the monitor.

"Good. Let them think they have the upper hand for now." Dragaunus muttered with a dark chuckle.

"Canard." Anna's voice came out a whisper as she laid there, completely powerless and knowing her brother was walking into a trap.

* * *

"There, the door to Dragaunus' command center," Canard announced as they came upon a door leading down a long hallway.

"We'll be right behind ya buddy," Canard promised, placing a reassuring hand on Wildwing's shoulder. Wildwing shuddered for a moment before nodding and taking off down the hallway.

* * *

"One of those birds is headed this way," Siege reported, watching a glowing dot run down the corridors while the others stayed where they were.

"That must be Canard, come to save his baby sister." Dragaunus narrowed his eyes at the corner where Anna lay. Anna glared up at him.

"No," came the weak cry from Anna. Dragaunus just chuckled at her weak state.

"I think it's best we separate him from his pesky friends," he informed, hitting a button.

* * *

"We'll give him a thirty-second start, then-" Canard was cut off as the door slammed shut in front of them.

"Well, so much for your plan Canard," Duke muttered from where he stood.

* * *

"Siege, take the others and deal with Canard's friends. I'll handle Canard." Dragaunus ordered. Siege nodded, looking at the others before disappearing in a green glow.

They appeared in front of three generally surprised ducks.

"Alright, let's pluck some duck!" Siege growled, his tail swinging with anticipation.

"I've a better idea, Siege. Let's roast them!" the Wraith growled, throwing a fireball towards where the ducks stood.

All three ducks dived out of the way and soon, they were in a fight with the saurians.

* * *

In the meantime, Wildwing made his way down the hall.

"You're the bait old pal, you're the decoy." Wildwing muttered as he ran down the hall, "ha! remind me to do you a favor sometime, Canard." he said sarcastically, glancing back to where he had left the other ducks. "Dragaunus' command center must have guards up the kazoo." he rounded the corner, seeing three drones standing guard.

"Oh man, I hate being right," he muttered. The drones saw him and started firing on him. He ducked back around the wall, a shiver going through him.

He hyped himself up, ducking back out from behind the wall and firing towards the drones.

"Sayonara cyborg. Adios Android!" he said to the two separate drones that came upon him. He destroyed them easily before feeling a drone grab him from behind. He grabbed it and threw it against the door destroying it.

"Ha! That oughta get his attention." Wildwing muttered, feeling extra proud of himself. The door slid open, revealing Dragaunus standing there. Dragaunus let out a chuckle before hitting a button and disappearing from sight. The metal of the hunter drone that laid there crunched under the invisible weight of Dragaunus' foot.

"Oh boy... it got his attention..." he trailed off, backing up.

"How disappointing." came Dragaunus' disembodied voice. "I was hoping it would be that pest Canard. He's been causing me trouble for months, and I had a little surprise for him," he added the last part with a dark tone and Wildwing gulped.

"Uh, guys? You're supposed to be right behind me!" he said, glancing back before getting picked up unexpectedly. Dragaunus turned off his invisibility field, appearing in front of Wildwing.

"Now, duck. you're mine!" he growled before chuckling darkly.

* * *

Nosedive was sitting in the pilot chair, looking at the controls.

"Oh man, come on! If I could just get this heap in the air..." he glanced at the buttons in front of him, finally deciding on one.

"Woohoo, alright! Nosedive to tower, here goes nothing!" he announced as he hit the button with his eyes covered. He heard a sound and opened his eyes, seeing the windshield wipers moving back and forth in front of him.

"Wrong!" he muttered, glancing sideways.

* * *

Dragaunus dragged Wildwing through his command chamber and Wildwing did his best to struggle against him.

"Wildwing?" A weak voice had called out to him, and he turned his head in the direction. His eyes went wide, seeing Anna lying in a puddle of blood on the floor in the corner.

"Anna!" he exclaimed before looking back at Dragaunus. "What the hell did you do to her!" he growled, struggling much more as they left the room, heading down a hallway. Dragaunus' eyes lit up.

"You care for her!" Dragaunus realized. He smirked, answering Wildwing's question, "I only asked her where the base was, but she was very adamant I not find out. I wonder if you are as tight-lipped," Dragaunus glanced at Wildwing sideways and Wildwing gulped.

Dragaunus dragged Wildwing to a ledge. He strapped his feet down to a platform.

"So, Wildwing, was it?" Dragaunus asked slyly, "where is the resistance base?" Wildwing glared, not saying anything. Dragaunus sighed, walking back to the room they'd seen Anna in. Wildwing heard Anna yelp.

"Anna!" he called out. Dragaunus came back, dragging her by her hair.

"Let's try that again!" Dragaunus growled, pressing a button on the control panel. A hook on a chain lowered from the ceiling. Once it got to where Dragaunus needed it, he lifted Anna up so her bonds were hanging on the hook. With the height of the hook, she was just barely standing on her tippy toes. She was facing toward Wildwing, her back to Dragaunus. He reached into a drawer, pulling out a whip.

He smacked it against the ground as a warning.

"Wildwing, don't!" Anna ordered.

"Anna..." Wildwing looked torn.

Dragaunus pulled the whip back and struck Anna's back. Anna let out a cry and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Where's the base!" he demanded.

"No, Wildwing!" she ordered. Dragaunus whipped her again. When he saw that Wildwing wasn't budging, he began striking Anna over and over again. She was trying so hard not to cry out, mainly for Wildwing's sake.

"Anna, I gotta." Wildwing argued.

"Wildwing, look at me! I'm already dead." she managed. Her voice was so weak and was laced with so much pain, Wildwing could barely stand it.

"Mmm, good point," Dragaunus muttered.

"How about this," Dragaunus challenged. He walked up behind Anna, pulling her hair back so she had to look toward Wildwing. He pulled out a remote, pointing it toward Wildwing. Wildwing nearly lost his balance as the platform floated to the center of the room.

"Anna," Dragaunus asked. Beneath Wildwing, she could see incineration rays, "where is the base?" he asked, knowing she could see the danger Wildwing was in. She spat at his question, blood splatting on the ground at his feet.

"Very well," Dragaunus moved a switch that caused Wildwing to start floating downward, "When he hits those rays, he'll be incinerated." he laughed maliciously next to Anna, "Unless somebody can come up with the coordinates for the military base."

"Go to hell." Anna spat. Dragaunus got mad, kneeing her in the stomach. She groaned from where she hung off the hook.

"Anna!" Wildwing called out in worry.

"I'm fine, Wing." Anna managed to slur out, "don't tell him anything."

"No matter," Dragaunus mused, leaving her tied up and laying on the floor, "I've always had a passion for crispy duck," he sneered down at Wildwing.

"I don't suppose I could interest you in a nice pasta salad instead, huh?"

* * *

Tanya attached the last bomb into place, glancing down to where Mallory sat, awaiting instruction.

"Now throw the toggle switch!" Tanya yelled.

"Um, toggle switch..." Mallory glanced back, her eyes and finger moving between a switch and a button. "Affirmative!" she called, pressing the button. Suddenly, the bomb started counting down instantly.

"No! I told you to throw the switch, not press the button!" Tanya yelled, running and grabbing Mallory's arm. Both ducks took off running down the hall.

"Switch, button? What's the diff!" Mallory was more pissed at herself for being so foolish.

"About nine minutes of escape time!" came the response as the bombs blew up the corridor. The two females dropped down just in the nick of time.

* * *

"What the blazes!" Dragaunus stormed out, leaving the platform moving downward and a battered Anna hanging from the ceiling. Once Wildwing figured he was far enough away, he called up.

"Anna?" he waited for a second, "Anna, you alright?" she still didn't respond. "Anna, please! Answer me!" he repeated.

"Wildwing?" the voice was weak as he watched her move so she could glance over the edge at him. "Hold on," she called, disappearing for a moment. She jerked the chain, swinging herself around. Wildwing could see the chain wiggling from where he was.

"Anna, be careful!" he called, knowing she could potentially lose her balance and fall off the edge. The chain shook violently for a minute and then, all at once, stopped as he heard something thud against the ground.

"Anna!" he called, worry lacing his voice.

She peered at him over the edge. He sighed with relief, seeing her there. She was still tied up, but at least she was off the chain.

"Anna?" Wildwing called, "Anna, go! Save yourself!" he ordered, knowing the place was blowing up.

"Negative, Wildwing," she called back down. She managed to stand, but the minute she took a step, she found out her legs were too weak and she fell.

"Anna!" Wildwing felt so hopeless as he watched her land close to the edge. She managed to stay on the ledge, scooting back more towards the center of the walkway. She laid there for a second before getting her second wind and crawling toward the console. She reached her tied hands up, pulling back on the lever. Wildwing felt the platform slow as he looked down and saw he was closer to the rays than he originally anticipated.

"Aw man, my feathers are starting to sweat..." Anna realized the lever only slowed the platform and wouldn't fully stop it. She mustered up the last bit of strength she could find and dragged herself up, looking at the console. She saw a big red button and slammed her hands down on it.

The platform came to a stop. Seeing Wildwing was no longer in danger, Anna dropped to the floor with a thud.

"Way to go, Anna!" Wildwing called up. She didn't answer. "Anna?"

* * *

In the meantime, Siege engaged Grin, while Canard went after the chameleon, gripping his arms around his puny little body.

"Stand still, you shape-shifting sicko!" Canard growled, struggling to keep the chameleon still. The chameleon suddenly shifted beneath Canard, and ended up on the ground, looking like a toddler.

"I'm only three and a half years old!" came the tiny voice. Without warning, the chameleon shifted again, punching Canard and knocking him down on the way up to becoming what looked to be a bodybuilder.

"Kids grow up so fast these days." he said, no longer sounding like a toddler.

Duke glared down the wraith.

"Care to fight fire with fire!" the wraith said, pulling out a flaming sword and slicing across Duke's chest. Duke stumbled for a moment, grabbing where his feathers had been singed. He glared up at the wraith before seeing that both he and the chameleon were approaching him.

Canard, meanwhile, was struggling to get back up. He looked up, seeing Siege standing over him.

"Your sister didn't put up this much of a fight." he gloated, and Canard's eyes went wide at this.

"Where is she!" he demanded suddenly.

"Doesn't matter. Cause in a few minutes, you're going to be lunch meat!" he growled, swinging his tail. Suddenly, his tail stopped swinging and he looked over to see grin had grabbed it. Grin, using all his might, swung the saurian around by his tail before barreling him into the other two. All three saurians hit the ground. They laid there for a second before a message from Dragaunus appeared on Siege's wrist.

"Siege! Bring the others to the raptors at once! The power cells; they're overloading!" in a flash, the picture disappeared and Siege and the other two teleported back to the raptor.

"Anyone thinking, that was a little too easy?" Duke muttered, rubbing his chin while staring at where the saurians had been lying before.

"Forget it. We gotta find Wildwing... and Anna." Canard added the last part and Duke gave him a look.

"You think they got her too?" he asked.

"Siege couldn't stop gloating about it." Canard muttered, hanging his head. Duke walked up a worried look on his face. He put a hand on Canard's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll find her," he promised.

"If she's still alive." Canard muttered before pulling himself together and leading the team down the corridor towards Dragaunus' command center.


	26. The End?

Anna was falling in and out of consciousness and her vision was blurred. Somewhere behind her, she could hear Wildwing calling for her, but it was difficult to make out exactly what he was saying. She looked back down the hallway, hearing footsteps. Three figures approached.

"Oh, sweetheart." she undoubtedly heard Duke's voice. She squinted her eyes, trying to focus.

"Wildwing!" she heard her brother call. Before Anna could even grasp that Duke was there, he held up his arm, firing a grappling hook and disappearing from sight.

"Anna," seeing Duke was getting Wildwing, Canard was able to turn his attention back to his sister. She felt his hands on her face, turning her head in different directions, looking for damage. Honestly, it was hard not to find damage and Canard didn't even know where to start.

"Anna!" Wildwing landed with Duke and ran over, kneeling next to Canard.

"Wildwing!" she exclaimed, throwing herself into his arms. With her back to Canard, Canard could see streaks across Anna's back.

"That was stupid, Anna! That was so stupid!" Wildwing scolded, hugging her carefully while resting his head on hers, "I was so stupid." he added. Canard shot him a questioning look.

"Dragaunus wanted to know the location of the base," Wildwing explained, "Anna wouldn't say. I wouldn't either. She paid the price and I barely got a scratch," Wildwing looked down, "I should have done something more. Fought harder." he blamed himself for Anna's injuries.

"You did the right thing, buddy." Canard rested a hand on his shoulder. Wildwing was shocked. Anna was beaten to a bloody pulp, and he was being automatically forgiven.

"He's right," Anna added, "this was a long time coming. Dragaunus has wanted me and Canard for a long time. I... this would have happened either way." she explained breathlessly.

"She's not wrong," Canard admitted, "we've become a sort of brother/sister duo. A force to be reckoned with and Dragaunus knows it."

"If Canard would have been the one that showed up, I'll guarantee he'd have been beaten senseless too," Anna added before gritting her teeth again and squeezing her eyes against the pain. She groaned and Duke stepped forward.

"Anna, what hurts?" Duke asked.

"Everything." came the sarcastic yet pained reply. Duke kind of shook his head at her. He couldn't lie to himself. He saw the full damage that had been done to Anna, and he noted how much blood stained her spandex; he was worried about the baby.

"Come on, let's get you out of here." Wildwing said, wrapping his arms around Anna and helping her to stand.

The base suddenly shook around them as Tanya and Mallory ran up on the scene. Anna lost her footing and fell back to her knees. She hated being so weak.

"Grab your socks, troops! In 30 seconds, we're all going to be toast!" Mallory announced.

Wildwing dropped down next to Anna and Duke and Canard moved closer, in case he needed help getting her up.

"Alright, let's try that again," he said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and wrapping his arm around her waist. She glanced at him and he gave her an encouraging smile.

Another loud boom rocked the base and Tanya and Mallory dropped from a blast that exploded the wall next to them.

Canard ran over, looking out to the spot he swore he had parked the aerowing.

"The aerowing's gone!" he exclaimed as the ducks crowded around him. He turned back, looking at Wildwing. He pointed an accusing finger at him.

"That kid brother of yours, he-" he was cut off by the sound of engines and the aerowing dropped down. The door opened and Anna shot her brother a glare.

"He did what?" she snapped at Canard. He ignored her. She was injured, and he didn't feel like opening this can of worms right now, though he knew she did have a point. The kid really came through just now, proving how smart he really was. He had just self-taught himself to fly a military-grade jet, and that wasn't an easy task to accomplish even with an instructor present.

Everyone hopped on except for Wildwing and Anna. Duke turned back, reaching out his hand. Wildwing helped her keep her balance as she reached out to Duke. The base shook again and she and Wildwing nearly lost their footing. She fell forward into Duke's chest and he caught her.

She glanced up and gasped, seeing a rip in his shirt. some blood stuck out and she glanced up at him.

"Just a little burn, sweetheart," he promised. He looked at her with pity as she felt his hand trace gently on a lash across her back. He didn't have time to say anything about it as Wildwing landed beside him.

"Come on," he ordered as they all crowded into the aerowing. The door closed behind them and the aerowing took off, barely clearing the explosion.

Duke helped Anna over to the gurney that was strapped into the back. She protested against it, but she was too weak, and Duke forced her to lay down. There was no easy way for her to lay down, having damage to her front and back, but Duke figured her stomach would be easier if just barely, to lay on. Canard came over, placing a hand on Duke's shoulder. Duke looked back at him and Canard just nodded, giving Duke the ok to sit down at his rightful spot. Canard sat in the chair that was bolted next to the gurney. He lifted Anna's shirt, and she cringed as the fabric peeled away from her skin. He examined the cuts and saw how deep they truly ran. He silently worked, pulling out a first aid kit and quickly cleaning the wounds.

"Canard I-"

"Shh, don't say anything sis. I'm the one who's sorry." he did that thing again where he could read her mind. "I should have let you come. This wouldn't have happened if you would have been with the team," he admitted, quickly working to tape gauze to the first cut.

"What the heck is that?" Wildwing exclaimed from the front, and Canard glanced up, seeing what the rest of them were seeing. Anna craned her head to see, but flinched again, having moved wrong. Canard forced her to stay down as he got to work patching up the second big lash.

"The ship seems to be generating some sort of dimensional gateway," Tanya informed. Wildwing leaned against Nosedive's chair.

"Then we'll follow them!" he paused, looking at Dive, "come on, baby bro, punch it!" Nosedive nodded.

"Hold on!" he announced as the ship entered the portal following the saurians. Canard finished up covering the last huge gash. He had to admit, he was trying to work fast before they engaged Dragaunus again. He was definitely going to force her to stay on the ship once they did catch up to the raptor, but he didn't want to risk leaving her to bleed out while they fought Dragaunus for the second time that day.

He knew it was going to hurt but he motioned for her to roll over. She hissed and groaned as she rolled slowly from her stomach to her back. He said nothing as he peeled back the spandex around her stomach.

"Your ribs are bruised," he muttered, grabbing some gauze and a bigger wrap. He was going to wrap the gauze around the bruising to cushion it.

"Bruised, or broken?" she muttered,

"Possibly both," he said, taping the gauze just beneath her bra. She sat up slowly and he wrapped the gauze around her abdomen. He just pinned the bandage into place when the ship started shaking. She fell back and hissed in pain as he leaned against the gurney for support. He and Anna both looked up to the window. Some electric blue mass had connected with the ship.

"Tanya, what is that!" he heard Wildwing ask.

"Well if I didn't know better, I'd say that's an electro-magnetic worm!" Tanya exclaimed.

"Hey, if that thing gets big enough, it could swallow the entire ship!" Duke added as the ship shook.

Canard saw the worry on his team's faces and glanced back at his baby sister. He leaned over, pulling her into a hug. She was startled at first but returned the hug. He kissed her forehead and she looked at him hard. He took a breath and took his dog tags off, handing them to her.

"I'll be back for these," he promised, moving away from her towards the side door.

"Wh- wh-... wait." she finally found a word she could grasp onto.

"We're gonna have to jettison something!" Wildwing ordered, glancing around the ship.

"Well, like what? Everything is bolted down!" Tanya didn't seem to have any answers that Wildwing wanted, and his face showed it.

The side door slid open and the wind howled through the ship. Wildwing glanced back, but any anger from before suddenly disappeared as he ran over to the door.

"Canard, what are you doing?" he asked, putting his hands up.

"You heard, Tanya. I'm gonna shut that thing down!" he said, moving to jump.

"Canard, stop!" Anna screamed from the back of the ship. She moved to get off the gurney but lost her footing and fell on her stomach. She gasped, squeezing her eyes against the pain. She glanced back down, seeing a huge gash up her leg. No wonder she couldn't walk.

"Are you crazy!" Wildwing echoed Anna's concerns as he grabbed Canard, turning him back to face him. Canard looked at him hard before taking off the mask.

"It's the only way. Take it, Wildwing." Wildwing shook his head, backing away from the mask. "Take it!" Canard ordered before suddenly the worm wrapped itself around Canard's ankle. Canard let out a surprised yelp as the worm dragged him out of the aerowing.

"Canard!" Wildwing and Anna both called at the same time, and Anna started pulling herself across the floor.

Wildwing latched onto Canard's arm and Grin moved to grab onto Wildwing's waist. Canard's arm began to slip from Wildwing's grasp until soon, he was only holding onto one end of the mask while Wildwing gripped the other end.

Canard looked frightened at first, but then his gaze hardened at Wildwing.

"Take it, you're team captain now," his gaze softened, "take care of my baby sister," with that final command, Canard let go of the mask.

"Canard!" Anna screamed, seeing him release the mask.

"No!" Wildwing matched Anna's anguish as he and Grin fell back. Anna tried to crawl faster, heading right for the door. Duke closed it and Anna glared up at him before she started pounding on the door. Tears were already wetting the feathers around her cheeks.

"No! No, no, no! Not my brother! Take me!" she screamed at the door where she had watched her brother disappear. Duke dropped down beside her and pulled into a hug. She didn't fight him as she just fell against his chest, bawling. He glanced back over at Wildwing.

"He sacrificed himself, to save us." he recapped.

"Truly an evolved soul," Grin added.

Wildwing was numb. He didn't cry, and hardly let any emotion show as he stared at the mask.

"Uh, guys? Those dino creeps are getting away!" Nosedive called from the pilot's seat. Tanya walked up.

"Oh no, they must have passed through the other end of the gateway!" she informed him. That seemed to pull Wildwing from his shock. He lowered the mask into his side pouch then stood up. His eyes narrowed, and suddenly he was hell-bent on revenge.

"Then that's where we're going!" he growled, "punch it, Nosedive."

They came out of the gateway and were suddenly surrounded by blue skies and green trees.

"Ugh! Where's the raptor!" Mallory growled. They passed a sign that read "Welcome to Anaheim, Home of the Mighty Frogs."

Wildwing just glanced over at her. "More to the point, where are we?"


End file.
